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Cbe  (gngltsb  bookman's  Librarp 
Edited  by  Alfred  Pollard 


volume  I 

ENGLISH    EMBROIDERED    BOOKBINDINGS 

By  CYRIL  DAVENPORT,  K.S.A. 

VOLUME   II 

A    SHORT    HISTORY   OF    ENGLISH    PRINTING 

By  H.  R.  PLOMER 

VOLUME    III 

ENGLISH    BOOK   COLLECTORS 

By  W.  Y.  FLETCHER,  F.S.A. 


LONDON 
KKOAN   PAUL.   TRENCH,   TRUBNER  ft   CO..   LIMITED 


ENGLISH 
BOOK  COLLECTORS 


•George  John,  Second  Earl  Spencer. 


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ENGLISH 
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COLLECTORS 

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WILLIAM  YOUNGER  FLETCHER 

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LONDON 

KEGAN    PAUL,   TRENCH,   TRUBNER 

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PREFACE 

Y     principal     object     in    compiling 
this    work     on      English     Book 
15]  |KN<^ft  |     Collectors    has     been     to     bring 
»®K/®  |     together   in   a   compact  and  con- 
<r^^r^S3t     venient     form      the     information 
respecting  them  which  is  to  be  found  scattered 
£  in   the  works   of  many  writers,    both   old   and 
r  new.     While  giving  short  histories  of  the  lives 
of  the  collectors,  and  some  description  of  their 
?  libraries,  I  have  also  endeavoured  to  show  what 
"  manner  of  men  the  owners  of  these  collections 
were.      In    doing    this    I    have    sought,   where 
u  practicable,  to  let  the  accounts  be  told  as  much 
as  possible  in  the  words  of  their  biographers,  as 
their  narratives  are  often  not  only  full  of  interest, 
but  are  also  couched  in  delightfully  quaint  lan- 
guage.    As  it  would  not  be  possible  in  a  volume 
of  this  size  to  furnish  satisfactory  notices  of  all 
the  Englishmen  who  have  formed  large  libraries, 
I  have  selected  some  of  those  who  appear  to 

264422 


viii         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

possess  special  claims  to  notice,  either  on  the 
ground  of  their  interesting  personality,  or  the 
exceptional  importance  of  their  collections. 
I  have  not  given  any  account  of  the  collectors 
who  lived  prior  to  the  reign  of  Henry  vn., 
for  until  that  time  libraries  consisted  almost 
entirely  of  manuscripts  ;  and  I  have  also  excluded 
men  who,  like  Sir  Thomas  Bodley,  collected 
books  for  the  express  purpose  of  forming,  or 
adding  to,  public  libraries. 

My  friend,  Mr.  Walter  Stanley  Graves,  has  in 
an  appendix  to  this  volume  compiled  a  list  of  the 
principal  sales  of  libraries  in  this  country  from 
an  early  period  to  the  present  time,  which  will 
be  found  to  supply  useful  information  about 
many  of  those  collectors  who  are  not  otherwise 
mentioned  in  the  book. 

Mr.  Locker-Lampson  in  the  introduction  to 
the  catalogue  of  his  library  very  pertinently 
remarks :  '  It  is  a  good  thing  to  read  books,  and 
it  need  not  be  a  bad  thing  to  write  them  ;  but  it 
is  a  pious  thing  to  preserve  those  that  have  been 
some  time  written.'  To  collectors  scholars  owe 
a  deep  debt  of  gratitude,  for  innumerable  are  the 
precious  manuscripts  and  rare  printed  books 
which  they  have  rescued  from  destruction,  and 
not  a  few  of  them  have  enriched  by  their  gifts 


PREFACE  ix 

and  bequests  the  public  libraries  of  their  country. 
Every  lover  of  books  must  feel  how  greatly 
indebted  he  is  to  Archbishops  Cranmer  and 
Parker,  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  Lord  Lumley, 
Sir  Robert  Cotton,  and  other  early  collectors, 
for  saving  so  many  of  the  priceless  manuscripts 
from  the  libraries  of  the  suppressed  monasteries 
and  religious  houses  which,  at  the  Reformation, 
intolerance,  ignorance,  and  greed  consigned  to 
the  hands  of  the  tailor,  the  goldbeater,  and  the 
grocer.  A  large  number  of  the  treasures  once 
to  be  found  in  these  collections  have  been 
irrecoverably  lost,  but  many  a  volume,  now  the 
pride  of  some  great  library,  bears  witness  to  the 
pious  and  successful  exertions  of  these  eminent 
men. 

A  love  of  book-collecting  has  always  prevailed 
in  this  country,  and  since  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  it  has  become  very  widely  diffused. 
In  the  early  days  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
Duke  of  Devonshire,  the  Earls  of  Oxford  and 
Sunderland,  and  several  other  collectors,  employed 
themselves  during  the  winter  months  in  rambling 
through  various  quarters  of  the  town  in  search  of 
additions  to  their  libraries,  and  with  some  of 
these  collectors  the  acquisition  of  books  became 
a  positive  passion.     In  1813  Dr.  Dibdin  thought 

b 


ALPHABETICAL   LIST   OF   COLLECTORS 


PAGE 

Arundel,  Henry  Fitzalan,  Earl  of, 

30 

Ashburnham,  Bertram,  Earl  of,    . 

382 

Askew,  Dr.  Anthony,        . 

219 

Bagford,  John,        ...... 

129 

Banks,  Sir  Joseph,  Bart,  . 

270 

Beauclerk,  Hon.  Topham, 

251 

Beckford,  William, 

317 

Bernard,   Dr.  Francis,        . 

III 

Bindley,  James,      ..... 

244 

Brand,  Rev.  John,              .... 

274 

Bridges,  John,         .            .            .            .            . 

156 

Buckingham,  Richard  Grenville,  Duke  of, 

•          342 

Burghley,  William  Cecil,  Lord,    . 

•              38 

Burney,  Charles,     ..... 

306 

Burton,  Robert,       ..... 

72 

Corser,  Rev.  Thomas,        .... 

372 

Cotton,  Sir  Robert  Bruce,  Bart,  . 

6l 

Cracherode,  Rev.  C.  M.,    .... 

221 

Cranmer,  Thomas,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  . 

18 

Crawford,  Alexander  William,  Earl  of,  . 

•       399 

Daniel,  George,       ..... 

•       358 

Dee,  Dr.  John,        ..... 

45 

XIV 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


Dent,  John, 

Devonshire,  William,  Duke  of, 

D'Ewcs,  Sir  Symonds,  Bart , 

Digby,  Sir  Kcnclm, 

Douce,  Francis, 

Edwards,  James, 

Fairfax,  Brian, 

Farmer,  Rev.  Richard,  D.D., 

Fisher,  John,  Bishop  of  Rochester, 

Folkes,  Martin, 

Gibson-Craig,  James  Thomson, 

Gough,  Richard,     . 

Grenville,  Right  Hon.  Thomas, 

Guilford,  Frederick  North,  Earl  of, 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  Duke  of, 

Hargrave,  Francis, 

Hearne,  Thomas,    . 

Heath,  Benjamin,   . 

Heath,  Rev.  Benjamin,  D.D., 

Heber,  Richard, 

Hibbert,  George,     . 

Hoare,  Sir  Richard  Colt,  Bart, 

Huth,  Henry, 

Inglis,  John  Bellingham,   . 

Laing,  David, 

Lansdowne,  William  Petty  Fitzmaurice,  Marquis 

Laud,  William,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 

Leicester,  Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of, 

Le  Neve,  Peter,      .... 

Locker-Lampson,  Frederick, 


of, 


MM 

277 

364 
'03 
IOS 

293 
297 
I70 
235 
14 
195 

395 
238 
281 
321 
328 
267 
172 
208 

253 
336 
300 

313 
409 

349 
377 
248 
66 
49 
147 
418 


Llbl    Ut    L,UJLL£,C 

lUKb 

XV 

PAGE 

Lumley,  John,  Lord,          .             .             .             .             .52 

Luttrell,  Narcissus, 

•     139 

Marlborough,  George  Spencer  Churchill, 

Duke  c 

>f, 

324 

Mead,  Dr.  Richard, 

160 

Miller,  William  Henry, 

•      355 

Moore,  John,  Bishop  of  Ely, 

125 

Morris,  William,     . 

423 

Murray,  John, 

159 

Norfolk,  Thomas  Howard,  Earl  of, 

91 

Oldys,  William,      . 

197 

Orford,  Horace  Walpole,  Earl  of, 

209 

Oxford,  Robert  and  Edward  Harley,  Earls  of, 

150 

Parker,  Matthew,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 

21 

Pearson,  Major  Thomas,  . 

256 

Pembroke,  Thomas  Herbert,  Earl  of, 

137 

Pepys,  Samuel, 

113 

Perkins,  Frederick, 

347 

Perkins,  Henry, 

346 

Phillipps,  Sir  Thomas,  Bart., 

367 

Ratcliffe,  John, 

199 

Rawlinson,  Dr.  Richard,    . 

186 

Rawlinson,  Thomas, 

176 

Reed,  Isaac, 

269 

Roxburghe,  John  Ker,  Duke  of, 

259 

Royal  Collectors,    . 

1 

Selden,  John, 

85 

Sheldon,  Ralph, 

108 

Sloane,  Sir  Hans,  Bart,    . 

143 

Smith,  Joseph,        .... 

184 

Smith,  Richard, 

93 

XVI 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


Smith,  Sir  Thomas,            .... 

34 

Spencer,  George  John,  Earl, 

•       308 

Steevcns,  George,   ..... 

240 

Stillingfleet,  Edward,  Bishop  of  Worcester, 

122 

Sunderland,  Charles  Spencer,  Earl  of,     . 

.       165 

Sykes,  Sir  Mark  Masterman,  Bart., 

331 

Thomason,  George,            .... 

96 

Thorold,  Sir  John,  Bart.,  .... 

233 

Tite,  Sir  William,  C.B.,     .... 

392 

Totnes,  George  Carew,  Earl  of,    . 

59 

Towneley,  John,                  .... 

226 

Turner,  Robert  Samuel,     .... 

415 

Usher,  James,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,    . 

76 

West,  James,           ..... 

203 

Willett,  Ralph 

215 

Williams,  John,  Archbishop  of  York, 

81 

Wodhull,  Michael,              . 

263 

Wotton,  Thomas,    ...... 

43 

LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Earl  Spencer,        .....        Frontispiece 

Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  ....  6 

Archbishop  Parker,  .  .  .  .  .21 

Device  of  Earl  of  Arundel,         ....  30 

Book-stamp  of  Sir  Thomas  Smith,        .  .  .  35 

Book-stamp  of  Lord  Burghley,  ...  42 

Arms  of  Thomas  Wotton,  ....  44 

Dr.  Dee,    .......  46 

Book-stamp  of  Earl  of  Leicester,  ...  50 

Lord  Lumley,       .  .  .  .  .  •  53 

Book-stamp  of  Earl  of  Totnes,  ...  59 

Sir  Robert  Bruce  Cotton,  Bart,  ...  62 

Archbishop  Usher,  .....  76 

Archbishop  Williams,       .  .  .  .  .81 

Arms  of  Earl  of  Norfolk,  ....  92 

Book-stamp  of  Sir  Symonds  D'Ewes,  Bart.,    .  .         104 

Book-stamp  of  Sir  Kenelm  Digby,        .  .  .         106 

Book-stamp  of  Ralph  Sheldon,  .  .  .         109 

Book-plate  of  Samuel  Pepys,      .  .  .  .114 

Book-stamp  of  Samuel  Pepys,    .  .  .  .118 

Book-stamp  of  Samuel  Pepys,    .  .  .  .120 

Book-plate     in     Bishop     Moore's    Books,    given     by 

George  1.  to  the  University  of  Cambridge,  .         127 


xviii       ENGLISH    HOOK   COLLECTORS 


John  Bagford, 

Sir  Hans  Sloanc,  Bart.,   . 

Book-plate  of  Robert  Harley,     . 

Book-stamp  of  Robert  Harley,  . 

I  >r.  Mead, 

Earl  of  Sunderland, 

Thomas  Hearne,   .  , 

Book-plate  of  Joseph  Smith. 

Dr.  Richard  Rawlinson, 

Strawberry  Hill,   . 

Rev.  C.  M.  Cracherode,   . 

Book-stamp  of  Rev.  C.  M.  Cracherode, 

Book-plate  of  John  Towneley,    . 

Book-plate  of  James  Bindley, 

Rev.  Dr.  Heath,    . 

Duke  of  Roxburghe, 

Book-stamp  of  Michael  Wodhull, 

Right  Hon.  Thomas  Grenville,  . 

William  Beckford, 

Duke  of  Devonshire, 

Small  Book-stamp  of  the  Earl  of  Balcarres, 

Large  Book-stamp  of  the  Earl  of  Balcarres, 

Frederick  Locker-Lampson, 

Book-plate  of  Frederick  Locker-Lampson, 


IA'.. 

»3' 
143 
»5i 
152 
161 
165 
172 
184 
189 
211 
221 
225 
228 

245 
254 
259 
264 
283 
318 

364 
400 
402 
418 
419 


ROYAL  COLLECTORS 

LTHOUGH  various  books  are 
incidentally  mentioned  in  the 
Wardrobe  Accounts, of  the  first, 
second,  and  third  Edwards,  there 
is  no  good  reason  to  believe  that 
any  English  king,  save  perhaps 
Henry  vi.,  or  any  royal  prince,  with  the  exception 
of  Humphrey,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  and  possibly 
of  John,  Duke  of  Bedford,  possessed  a  collec- 
tion large  enough  to  be  styled  a  library  until 
the  reign  of  Edward  iv.  In  the  Wardrobe 
Accounts  of  that  Sovereign,  preserved  among 
the  Harleian  mss.  in  the  library  of  the  British 
Museum,  mention  is  made  of  the  conveyance, 
in  the  year  1480,  of  the  King's  books  from 
London  to  Eltham  Palace.  It  is  stated  that 
some  were  put  into  '  the  kings  carr,'  and  others 
into  '  divers  cofyns  of  fyrre.'  Several  entries 
also  refer  to  the  '  coverying  and  garnysshing  of 
the  books  of  oure  saide  Souverain  Lorde  the 
Kynge'  by  Piers  Bauduyn,  stationer.  Among 
the  books  mentioned  are  the  works  of  Josephus, 


2  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Livy,  and  Froissart,  'a  booke  of  the  holy  Trinitt\ 
'  a  Dooke  called  le  Gouvernement  of  Kinges  and 
Princes ,'  'a  booke  called  la  Forteresse  de  Foy\ 
and  4a  booke  called  the  bible  historiai:  The 
price  paid  for  'binding,  gilding,  and  dressing' 
the  copy  of  the  Bible  Historiale  and  the  works 
of  Livy  was  twenty  shillings  each,  and  for 
several  others  sixteen  shillings  each.  Other 
entries  show  that  the  bindings  were  of  '  Creni) ->y 
velvet  figured,'  with  '  Laces  and  Tassels  of  Silk,' 
with  '  Blue  Silk  and  Gold  Botons,'  and  with 
4  Claspes  with  Roses  and  the  Kings  Armes  uppon 
them.'  '  LXX  Bolions  coper  and  gilt,'  and 
•  CCC  nayles  gilt '  were  also  used. 

The  first  English  king  who  formed  a  library  of 
any  size  was  Henry  vn.,  and  many  entries  are 
found  in  his  Privy  Purse  Expenses  relating  to 
the  purchase  and  binding  of  his  books.  The 
great  ornament  of  his  collection  was  the  superb 
series  of  volumes  on  vellum  bought  of  Antoine 
Vdrard,  the  Paris  publisher,  which  now  forms 
one  of  the  choicer  treasures  of  the  British 
Museum.  Henry's  principal  library  was  kept 
in  his  palace  at  Richmond,  where,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  some  volumes  which  seem  to  have 
been  taken  to  Beddington  by  Henry  vin.,  it 
appears  to  have  remained  for  more  than  a  century 
after  his  death,  for  Justus  Zinzerling,  a  native  of 
Thuringia,  and  Doctor  of  Laws  at  Basle,  states  in 
his  boolc  of  travels,  entitled  Itinerarium  Gallia, 


ROYAL  COLLECTORS  3 

etc.,  Lyons,  1616,  that  'the  most  curious  thing 
to  be  seen  at  Richmond  Palace  is  Henry  vn.'s 
library.'  It  was  probably  removed  to  Whitehall, 
for  the  only  book  in  the  library  mentioned  by 
Zinzerling,  a  Genealogia  Rerum  Anglicz  ab 
Adamo,  appears  in  a  catalogue  of  Charles  11. 's 
mss.  at  Whitehall,  compiled  in  1666. 

Henry  vm.  inherited  the  love  of  his  father  for 
books,  and  added  considerably  to  his  collection. 
Besides  the  library  at  Richmond,  Henry  had  a 
fine  one  at  Westminster,  a  catalogue  of  which, 
compiled  in  1542  or  1543,  is  still  preserved  in 
the  Record  Office.  He  had  also  libraries  at 
Greenwich,  Windsor,  Newhall  in  Essex,  and 
Beddington  in  Surrey.  Some  of  his  books  were 
also  kept  at  St.  James's,  for  in  the  inventory  of 
his  furniture  at  that  palace,  entries  occur  of  a 
Description  of  the  hollie  lande ;  l  a.  boke  covered 
with  vellat,  embroidered  with  the  Kings  arms, 
declaring  the  same,  in  a  case  of  black  leather, 
with  his  graces  arms';  and  other  volumes.  Of 
these  libraries  the  largest  and  most  important 
appears  to  have  been  that  at  Westminster.  It 
was  fairly  rich  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics, 
and  in  the  writings  of  French  and  Italian  authors. 
The  English  historians  were  well  represented, 
but  the  principal  feature  of  the  collection  was  the 
works  of  the  Fathers,  which  were  very  numerous. 
The  library  also  contained  no  less  than  sixty 
primers,  many  of  them  being  bound  in  '  vellat/ 


4  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

or  in  ■  lcthcr  gorgiously  gilted.'  In  the  succeed- 
ing rdgn  this  library  was  purged  'of  all  masse- 
bookes,  leeendes,  ana  other  superstitiouse  booke s 
by  an  Order  in  Council,  which  also  directed  that 
1  the  garnyture  of  the  bookes  being  either  golde 
or  silver'  should  be  delivered  to  Sir  Anthony 
Aucher,  the  Master  of  the  Jewel  House. 

The  library  at  Greenwich  contained  three 
hundred  and  forty-one  printed  and  manuscript 
volumes,  besides  a  number  of  manuscripts,  kept 
in  various  parts  of  the  palace.  An  inventory, 
taken  after  the  King's  death,  mentions  among 
other  books  '  a  greate  booke  called  an  Herballe/ 
'  twoo  great  Bibles  in  Latten,'  and  'a  booke, 
wrytten  on  parchment,  of  the  processe  betweene 
King  Henry  th'  eight  and  the  Ladye  Katheryne 
Dowager.'  The  Windsor  and  Newhall  libraries 
were  smaller ;  the  first  comprising  one  hundred 
and  nine,  and  the  second  sixty  volumes.  At 
Beddington  were  some  remarkably  choice  books, 
including  many  beautiful  editions  printed  for 
Antoine  Ve'rard,  probably  some  of  those  pur- 
chased by  Henry  vn.  Among  these  was  'a 
greate  booke  of  parchment,  written  and  lymned 
with  gold  of  gravers  worke,  de  confessione 
A  mantis! 

Edward  vi.  and  Mary  during  their  short  reigns 
added  comparatively  few  books  to  the  royal 
collection,  nor  are  there  many  to  be  now  found 
in  it  which  were  acquired  by  Elizabeth.     It  is 


ROYAL  COLLECTORS  5 

difficult  to  say  what  became  of  this  Queen's 
books,  of  which  she  appears  to  have  possessed  a 
considerable  number;  for  Paul  Hentzner  tells 
us  in  his  Itinerary  that  her  library  at  Whitehall, 
when  he  visited  it  in  1598,  was  well  stored  with 
books  in  various  languages,  '  all  bound  in  velvet 
of  different  colours,  although  chiefly  red,  with 
clasps  of  gold  and  silver;  some  having  pearls 
and  precious  stones  set  in  their  bindings.'  Pro- 
bably the  richness  of  the  bindings  had  much 
to  do  with  the  disappearance  of  the  books. 

James  1.  is  undoubtedly  entitled  to  a  place  in 
the  list  of  royal  book-collectors,  and  the  numerous 
fine  volumes,  many  of  them  splendidly  bound, 
with  which  he  augmented  the  royal  library,  testify 
to  his  love  of  books.  When  but  twelve  years  of 
age  he  possessed  a  collection  of  something  like 
six  hundred  volumes,  about  four  hundred  of 
which  are  specified  in  a  manuscript  list,  princi- 
pally in  the  handwriting  of  Peter  Young,  who 
shared  with  George  Buchanan  the  charge  of 
James's  education.  This  list  is  preserved  in  the 
British  Museum,  and  was  edited  in  1893  by  Mr. 
G.  F.  Warner,  Assistant-Keeper  of  Manuscripts, 
for  the  Scottish  History  Society.  After  the 
death  of  the  learned  Isaac  Casaubon,  the  King, 
at  the  instigation  of  Patrick  Young,  his  librarian, 
purchased  his  entire  library  of  his  widow  for  the 
sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds. 

If  James  1.  is  entitled  to  be  regarded  as  a 


6  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

collector,  his  eldest  son  Henry  has  even  a  better 
claim  to  the  title.  This  young  prince,  who  com- 
bined a  great  fondness  for  manly  sports  with  a 
sincere  love  for  literature,  purchased  from  the 
executors  of  his  tutor,  Lord  Lumley,  the  greater 
portion  of  the  large  and  valuable  collection  which 
that  nobleman  had  partly  formed  himself,  and 
partly  inherited  from  his  father-in-law,  Henry 
Fitzalan,  Earl  of  Arundel,  the  possessor  of  a  fine 
library  at  Nonsuch,  comprising  a  number  of 
manuscripts  and  many  printed  volumes  which 
had  belonged  to  Archbishop  Cranmer.  Henrys 
first  care  after  the  acquisition  of  the  books  was  to 
have  them  catalogued,  and  in  his  Privy  Purse 
Expenses  for  the  year  1609  we  find  the  following 
entry  :  '  To  Mr.  Holcock,  for  writing  a  Catalogue 
of  the  Library  which  his  Highness  hade  of  my 
Lord  Lumley,  £8,  13s.  od.'  He  also  unfor- 
tunately had  the  volumes  rebound  and  stamped 
with  his  arms  and  badges,  a  step  which  must  have 
destroyed  many  interesting  bindings.  Henry  only 
lived  three  years  to  enjoy  his  purchase,  but  during 
that  time  he  made  many  additions  to  it.  Edward 
Wright,  the  mathematician,  who  died  in  161 5, 
was  his  librarian,  and  received  a  salary  of  thirty 
pounds  a  year.  As  Henry  died  intestate  his 
library  became  the  property  of  his  father,  and 
passed  into  the  royal  collection  which  was  given 
to  the  British  Museum  by  George  11. 

Prince  Rupert  also  appears  to  have  inherited 


Henry,  Prince  of  Wales. 


ROYAL  COLLECTORS  7 

to  some  extent  the  love  of  books  possessed  by  his 
grandfather  James  1.  and  his  uncle  Prince  Henry, 
for  he  formed  a  well-selected  library  of  about 
twelve  hundred  volumes,  of  which  a  catalogue  is 
preserved  among  the  Sloane  manuscripts  in  the 
British  Museum.1 

King  Charles  1.,  although  he  bought  some 
books,  and  had  a  number  of  valuable  volumes 
given  to  him  by  his  mother,  can  hardly  be  classed 
with  the  royal  book-collectors.  He  had  a  greater 
inclination  to  paintings  and  music  than  to  books, 
and  it  is  said  that  he  so  excelled  in  the  fine  arts, 
that  he  might,  if  it  were  necessary,  '  have  got  a 
livelihood  by  them.'  One  very  precious  addition 
to  the  royal  library  was,  however,  made  during 
his  reign  :  the  famous  Codex  Alexandrinus,  which 
Cyril  Lucar,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  in  1624 
placed  in  the  hands  of  Sir  Thomas  Roe,  the 
English  ambassador  to  the  Porte,  as  a  gift  to 
King  James,  but  which  did  not  reach  England  till 
four  years  later,  when  that  sovereign  was  no  longer 
alive.  The  royal  library,  which  had  narrowly 
escaped  dispersion  in  the  Civil  War,  was  largely 
increased  during  the  reign  of  Charles  11.,  and 
at  his  death  the  works  in  it  amounted  to  more 
than  ten  thousand.  A  love  of  books  can  scarcely 
be  attributed  to  Charles,  and  although  he 
certainly  caused  some  important  additions  to  be 
made  to   the   collection — notably   a   number   of 

1  Sloane  mss.  555. 


8  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

valuable  manuscripts  which  had  belonged  succes- 
sively to  John  and  Charles  Theyer — the  greater 
part  of  the  increase  may  be  ascribed  to  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Copyright  Act,  which  was  passed  in 
the  fourteenth  year  of  this  reign,  and  enabled  the 
royal  library  to  claim  a  copy  of  every  work 
printed  in  the '  English  dominions.  From  the 
death  of  Charles  until  the  library  was  given  to 
the  nation  by  George  n.  in  1757  little  interest  was 
taken  in  it  by  the  kings  and  queens  who  reigned 
in  the  interval. 

Although  George  in.  was  a  man  of  somewhat 
imperfect  education,  he  keenly  regretted  the  loss 
of  the  royal  collection,  and  no  sooner  was  he 
seated  on  the  throne  than  he  began  to  amass  the 
magnificent  library  which  has  now  joined  its 
predecessor  in  the  British  Museum.  In  this 
labour  of  love  he  was  assisted  by  the  sympathy 
and  help  of  his  Queen,  who,  Dr.  Croly  tells  us, 
was  in  the  habit  of  paying  visits,  with  a  lady-in- 
waiting,  to  Holywell  Street  and  Ludgate  Hill, 
where  second-hand  books  were  offered  for  sale. 
The  King  commenced  the  formation  of  his  col- 
lection in  1762  by  buying  for  about  ten  thousand 
pounds  the  choice  library  of  Mr.  Joseph  Smith, 
who  for  many  years  was  the  British  consul  at 
Venice,  and  '  for  seven  or  eight  years  the  shops 
and  warehouses  of  English  booksellers  were  also 
sedulously  examined,  and  large  purchases  were 
made  from  them.     In  this  labour  Dr.  Johnson 


ROYAL  COLLECTORS  9 

often  assisted,  actively  as  well  as  by  advice.' 1  It 
is  said  the  King  expended  during  his  long  reign, 
on  an  average,  about  two  thousand  pounds  a  year 
in  the  purchase  of  books.  In  1768  he  despatched 
his  illegitimate  half-brother,  Mr.  Barnard,  after- 
wards Sir  Frederic  Augusta  Barnard,  whom  he 
had  appointed  his  librarian,  on  a  bibliographical 
tour  on  the  Continent,  during  which  so  many 
valuable  acquisitions  were  obtained  for  the  library, 
that  it  at  once  took  its  place  amongst  the  most 
important  collections  in  the  country,  and  after 
the  death  of  the  King,  when  the  books  it  con- 
tained were  counted  by  order  of  a  select  committee 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  they  were  found  to 
number  'about  65,250  exclusive  of  a  very 
numerous  assortment  of  pamphlets,  principally 
contained  in  868  cases,  and  requiring  about  140 
more  cases  to  contain  the  whole.'  These  tracts, 
which  number  about  nineteen  thousand,  have 
since  been  separately  bound.  The  manu- 
scripts belonging  to  the  library  amount  to  about 
four  hundred  and  forty  volumes,  and  there  is 
also  a  magnificent  collection  of  maps  and  topo- 
graphical prints  and  drawings.  The  library  is 
very  rich  in  bibliographical  rarities  as  well  as  in 
general  literature.  The  Gutenberg  Bible,  the 
Bamberg  Bible,  the  first  and  second  Mentz 
Psalters  (the  first,  a  superb  volume,  is  kept  at 
Windsor  Castle),  and   no  less  than  thirty-nine 

1  Edwards,  Lives  of  the  Founders  of  the  British  Museum ,  p.  469. 

B 


io  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Caxtons  are  among  the  most  conspicuous  of  the 
many  treasures  of  this  splendid  collection.  The 
Caxtons  were  principally  purchased  at  the  sales 
of  the  libraries  of  James  West  in  1773,  John 
Ratcliffe,  the  Bermondsey  ship-chandler,  who  had 
acquired  the  remarkable  number  of  forty-eight, 
in  1776,  and  of  Richard  Farmer  in  1798. 
Edwards,  in  his  Lives  of  the  Founders  of  the 
British  Museum,  informs  us  that  '  Ratcliffe's 
forty-eight  Caxtons  produced  at  his  sale  two 
hundred  and  thirty-six  pounds,  and  that  the 
king  bought  twenty  of  them  at  an  aggregate 
cost  of  about  eighty-five  pounds.  Amongst  them 
were  Boethius  de  Consolatione  Philosophies,  the 
first  editions  of  Reynard  the  Foxe  and  the 
Golden  Legende,  the  Curial,  and  the  Speculum 
Vitce  Christi.  The  Boethius  is  a  fine  copy,  and 
was  obtained  for  four  pounds  six  shillings.' 

George  iii.'s  library  was  first  kept  in  the  old 
Palace  of  Kew,  which  was  pulled  down  in  1802, 
and  afterwards  in  a  handsome  and  extensive  suite 
of  rooms  at  Buckingham  House ;  the  site  which 
at  one  time  had  been  proposed  for  the  British 
Museum.  Scholars  and  students  were  at  all 
times  liberally  permitted  by  the  King  to  consult 
the  books,  and  he  also  showed  his  kindly  con- 
sideration for  them  by  instructing  his  librarian 
'  not  to  bid  either  against  a  literary  man  who 
wants  books  for  study,  or  against  a  known  col- 
lector of  small  means.'     A  handsome  catalogue 


ROYAL  COLLECTORS  u 

of  the  library  was  compiled  by  Sir  F.  A.  Barnard, 
who  had  charge  of  the  collection  from  its  com- 
mencement to  the  time  when  it  was  acquired  by 
the  nation.  He  died  on  the  27th  of  January 
1830,  aged  eighty-seven. 

The  library  in  which  George  in.  took  so  keen 
an  interest  was  regarded  by  his  successor  as  a 
costly  burden,  and  there  is  little  doubt  he  in- 
tended to  dispose  of  it  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia, 
who  was  very  anxious  to  obtain  it.  The  design 
of  the  King  having  become  known  to  Lord 
Farnborough  and  Richard  Heber,  the  collector, 
they  communicated  intelligence  of  it  to  Lord 
Liverpool  and  Lord  Sidmouth,  who  were  for- 
tunately able  to  prevent  the  proposed  sale  of  the 
books  by  offering  the  King  an  equivalent  for 
them,  the  amount  of  which  has  not  transpired, 
out  of  a  fund  known  as  the  Droits  of  the 
Admiralty.  On  the  completion  of  the  bargain, 
George  iv.  addressed  to  Lord  Liverpool  a  letter, 
dated  January  15th,  1823,  in  which  occur  the 
following  words  :  '  The  King,  my  late  revered 
and  excellent  father,  having  formed  during  a  long 
series  of  years  a  most  valuable  and  extensive 
library,  consisting  of  about  120,000  volumes,  I 
have  resolved  to  present  this  collection  to  the 
British  Nation.'  This  letter,  printed  in  letters  of 
gold,  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum.  In 
addition  to  the  first  edition  of  the  Mentz  Psalter ; 
the  Aldine  Virgil   of  1505,  the   Second  Shake- 


12  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

speare  folio  which  once  belonged  to  Charles  i., 
four  Caxtons  forming  part  of  the  collection, 
viz.,  The  Doctrinal  of  Sapience,  on  parchment, 
The  Fables  of  </Esop,  The  Fayts  of  Arms,  and 
the  Rectieil  dcs  Histoires  de  Troye,  with  a  few- 
other  volumes,  were  retained  at  Windsor. 

Of  the  sons  of  George  in.,  the  Duke  of  Sussex 
alone  appears  to  have  inherited  his  fathers  love 
of  collecting  books,  and  he  formed  a  magnificent 
library  in  his  apartments  at  Kensington  Palace. 
The  collection  consisted  of  more  than  fifty  thou- 
sand volumes,  twelve  thousand  of  which  were 
theological.  It  included  a  very  considerable 
number  of  early  Hebrew  and  other  rare  manu- 
scripts, and  about  one  thousand  editions  of  the 
Bible.  An  elaborate  catalogue  of  a  portion  of  it, 
entitled  Bibliotheca  Sussexiana,  was  compiled  by 
Dr.  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  the  Duke's  librarian,  in  two 
volumes,  the  first  of  which  was  printed  in  1827, 
and  the  second  in  1839. 

After  the  Duke's  death  his  books  were  sold 
by  auction  by  Evans  of  Pall  Mall.  They  were 
disposed  of  in  six  sales,  the  first  of  which  took 
place  in  July  1844,  and  the  last  in  August  1845  J 
and  they  occupied  altogether  sixty-one  days. 
The  number  of  lots  was  fourteen  thousand  one 
hundred  and  seven,  and  the  total  amount  realised 
nineteen  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-eight 
pounds. 

The  Duke  of  York  possessed  a  good  library, 


ROYAL  COLLECTORS  13 

which  was  sold  by  Sotheby  in  May  1827,  but  it 
consisted  almost  entirely  of  modern  books,  and 
the  Duke  could  hardly  be  considered  a  collector. 

On  his  succession  to  the  throne  William  iv., 
as  he  remarked,  found  himself  the  only  sovereign 
in  Europe  not  possessed  of  a  library,  and  speedily 
took  steps  to  acquire  one.  He  did  more  than 
this,  for  in  July  1833  he  caused  a  special  codicil 
to  his  will  to  be  drawn  up  which  sets  forth  that 
'Whereas  His  Majesty  hath  made  considerable 
additions  to  the  Royal  Libraries  in  His  Majesty's 
several  Palaces,  and  may  hereafter  make  further 
additions  thereto,  Now  His  Majesty  doth  give 
and  bequeath  all  such  additions,  whether  the 
same  have  been  or  may  be  made  by  and  at  the 
cost  of  His  Majesty's  Privy  Purse  or  otherwise 
unto  and  for  the  benefit  of  His  Majesty's  succes- 
sors, in  order  that  the  said  Royal  Libraries  may 
be  transmitted  entire.' 

When  on  November  30th,  1834,  the  King 
signed  this  document,  he  made  it  yet  more 
emphatic  by  the  autograph  note :  '  Approved  and 
confirmed  by  me  the  King,  and  I  further  declare 
that  all  the  books,  drawings,  and  plans  collected 
in  all  the  palaces  shall  for  ever  continue  Heir- 
looms to  the  Crown  and  on  no  pretence  whatever 
be  alienated  from  the  Crown.' 

Thus  explicitly  protected  from  the  fate  which 
befell  its  two  predecessors,  this  third  Royal 
Library    throve    and    prospered    under    Queen 


i4  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Victoria  till  it  fills  a  handsome  room  at 
Windsor  Castle.  The  few  books  reserved  by 
George  iv.  give  it  importance  as  an  antiquarian 
collection;  but  its  development  has  been  rather 
on  historical  and  topographical  than  on  anti- 
quarian lines,  though  it  possesses  sufficient  fine 
bindings  to  have  supplied  materials  for  a  hand- 
some volume  of  facsimiles  by  Mr.  Griggs,  edited 
with  introduction  and  descriptions  by  Mr.  R. 
R.  Holmes,  M.V.O.,  the  King's  Librarian  at 
Windsor. 


JOHN   FISHER,   BISHOP  OF 
ROCHESTER,  i459?-i535 

John  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  was  born  at 
Beverley  in  Yorkshire,  and  was  the  eldest  son  of 
Robert  Fisher,  a  mercer  of  that  town.  The  date 
of  his  birth  is  uncertain,  some  of  his  biographers 
placing  it  as  early  as  1459,  and  others  as  late  as 
1469.  He  was  educated  in  the  school  attached 
to  the  collegiate  church  of  his  native  place,  and 
afterwards  at  Michael  House,  Cambridge  (now 
incorporated  into  Trinity  College),  of  which 
he  became  a  Fellow  in  1491,  and  Master  in 
1497.  1°  I5°I  ne  was  elected  Vice-Chancel  lor, 
and  in  1504  Chancellor  of  the  University.  The 
respect  in  which   Margaret,  Countess  of   Rich- 


BISHOP  FISHER  15 

mond,  the  mother  of  Henry  vil,  held  him,  in- 
duced her  to  appoint  him  her  chaplain  and 
confessor,  and  it  was  principally  through  his 
exertions  that  the  Countess's  designs  for  found- 
ing St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  were  carried 
out,  Fisher  himself  subsequently  founding 
several  fellowships,  scholarships,  and  lectureships 
in  connection  with  the  college.  He  was  appointed 
the  first  '  Lady  Margaret's  Professor  of  Divinity ' 
in  the  University  of  Cambridge  in  1503,  and  in 
1504  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Rochester.  The 
firmness  with  which  he  opposed  the  royal  supre- 
macy, and  the  divorce  of  Henry  vin.,  brought  on 
him  the  displeasure  of  the  King,  and  in  1534, 
having  given  too  ready  a  credence  to  the  •  revela- 
tions '  of  Elizabeth  Barton,  '  the  nun  of  Kent,'  he 
was  attainted  of  misprision  of  treason,  and  soon 
afterwards,  on  his  refusal  to  acknowledge  the 
King's  supremacy  and  the  validity  of  his  marriage 
with  Anne  Boleyn,  was  committed  with  Sir 
Thomas  More  to  the  Tower.  During  his  im- 
prisonment Pope  Paul  in.  created  him  a  cardinal, 
an  act  which  greatly  increased  the  irritation  of 
the  King  against  him,  and  on  the  22nd  of  June 
1535  Fisher  was  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill. 

Bishop  Fisher,  who  was  the  author  of  a  con- 
siderable number  of  controversial  tracts,  was  a 
man  of  great  learning,  and  is  said  to  have 
possessed  the  finest  library  in  the  country.  In 
an  account  of  his  life  and  death  first  published 


16  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLFXTORS 

in  1665,  which  was  professedly  written  by  Thomas 
Baity,  a  royalist  divine,  but  is  said  to  have 
been  really  the  work  of  Dr.  Richard  Hall  of 
Christ's  College,  Cambridge,  who  died  in  1604, 
a  relation  is  given  of  the  seizure  of  his  goods  and 
books  after  his  attainder.  '  In  the  meantime  lest 
any  conveyance  might  be  made  of  his  goods 
remaining  at  Rochester,  or  elsewhere  in  Kent, 
the  King  sent  one  Sir  Richard  Moryson,  of  his 
Privy  Chamber,  and  one  Gostwick,  together  with 
divers  other  Commissioners,  down  into  that 
Countrey,  to  make  seisure  of  all  his  moveable 
goods  that  they  could  finde  there,  who  being  come 
unto  Rochester,  according  to  their  Commission, 
entred  his  house ;  and  the  first  thing  they  did 
was,  they  turned  out  all  his  Servants  ;  then  they 
fell  to  rifling  his  goods,  whereof  the  chief  part 
of  them  were  taken  for  the  Kings  use,  the  rest 
they  took  for  themselves ;  then  they  came  into 
his  Library,  which  they  found  so  replenished,  and 
with  such  kind  of  Books,  as  it  was  thought  the 
like  was  not  to  be  found  againe  in  the  possession 
of  any  one  private  man  in  Christendom ;  with 
which  they  trussed  up  and  filled  32  great  vats, 
or  pipes,  besides  those  that  were  imbezel'd 
away,  spoyl'd  and  scatter'd ;  and  whereas  many 
yeares  before  he  had  made  a  deed  of  gift  of  all 
these  books,  and  other  his  household  stuffe  to 
the  Colledge  of  Sl  John  in  Cambridge,  .  .  .  two 
frauds  were  committed   in    this    trespasse ;    the 


BISHOP  FISHER  17 

Col  ledge  were  bereaved  of  their  gift,  and  the 
Bishop  of  his  purpose.'  An  account  of  his  library 
and  its  confiscation  is  also  to  be  found  in  a 
manuscript  treatise  concerning  his  life  and  death, 
preserved  among  the  Harleian  mss.  in  the  British 
Museum.  '  He  had  ye  notablest  Library  of  Books 
in  all  England,  two  long  galleries  full,  the  Books 
were  sorted  in  stalls  &  a  Register  of  y6  names 
of  every  Book  at  ye  end  of  every  stall.  All  these 
his  Books,  &  all  his  Hangings,  plate,  &  vessels 
for  Hawl,  Chamber,  Buttry,  &  Kitchin,  he  gave 
long  before  his  death  to  Sl  Joh:  College,  by  a 
Deed  of  gift,  &  put  them  in  possession  thereof; 
&  then  by  indenture  did  borrow  all  ye  sd :  books 
&  stuff,  to  have  ye  use  of  yra  during  his  life,  but 
at  his  apprehension,  the  Lord  Crumwell  caused 
all  to  be  confiscated,  which  he  gave  to  Moryson, 
Plankney  of  Chester,  and  other  that  were  about 
him,  &  so  ye  College  was  defrauded  of  all  this  gift/ 

Erasmus  represents  Fisher  as  a  man  of  the 
greatest  integrity,  of  deep  learning,  incredible 
sweetness  of  temper,  and  grandeur  of  soul ;  and 
Sir  Thomas  More  declared  that  there  was  '  in  this 
realm  no  one  man,  in  wisdom,  learning,  and  long 
approved  vertue  together,  mete  to  be  matched 
and  compared  with  him.' 

An  excellent  portrait  of  Fisher  is  preserved 
among  the  Holbein  drawings  at  Windsor  Castle, 
and  others  are  to  be  found  in  several  of  the 
Colleges  of  the  University  of  Cambridge. 


18  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

THOMAS  CRANMER,  ARCHBISHOP  OF 
CANTERBURY,  1489-1556 

Thomas  Cranmer,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
the  events  of  whose  life  are  so  well  known 
that  it  is  not  necessary  to  give  an  account  of 
them  here,  possessed  a  very  fine  library,  both  of 
manuscripts  and  printed  books.  Many  of  the 
volumes  it  contained  are  still  in  existence, 
and  fortunately  they  can  be  identified  without 
difficulty,  as  almost  all  of  them  bear  the  Arch- 
bishop's name  written,  it  is  believed,  by  one 
of  his  secretaries.     As  might  be  expected,  the 


books  are  principally  of  a  theological  nature, 
although  copies  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Classics, 
and  of  works  treating  of  historical,  scientific, 
legal,  medical,  and  miscellaneous  subjects  are 
fairly  numerous.  Strype  tells  us  •  that  the 
library  was  the  storehouse  of  ecclesiastical  writers 
of  all  ages :  and  which  was  open  for  the  use  of 
learned  men.  Here  old  Latimer  spent  many  an 
hour ;  and  found  some  books  so  remarkable,  that 
once  he  thought  fit  to  mention  one  in  a  sermon 
before  the  King.'  Strype  adds  that  Cranmer 
both  annotated  the  books  in  his  library,  and  also 
made  extracts  from  them,  and  the  notes  which 


ARCHBISHOP  CRANMER  19 

are  found   in  many  of  those  which  have  been 
preserved  to  our  time  confirm  his  statement. 

The  fate  of  the  library  after  the  fall  of  its 
owner  can  only  be  conjectured. 

Soon  after  the  accession  of  Mary  to  the  throne 
Cranmer  was  put  on  his  trial  for  high  treason, 
and  sentence  of  death  was  passed  upon  him ;  and 
although  at  that  time  his  life  was  spared,  he  was 
included  in  the  Act  of  Attainder  passed  in  Parlia- 
ment against  the  Earl  of  Northumberland, 
deprived  of  his  archbishopric,  and  committed  to 
the  Tower.  He  had  to  produce  an  inventory  of 
his  goods ;  and  a  list  of  all  the  property  found  in 
the  Archbishop's  palaces  is  still  preserved  in  the 
Record  Office,  but,  with  the  exception  that  it  is 
stated  that  a  '  bible  with  other  bookes  of  service ' 
were  '  conveyed  and  stolen  awaie '  from  the  chapel, 
no  mention  is  made  of  the  books.  They  pro- 
bably shared  the  fate  of  the  goods  of  Robert 
Holgate,  Archbishop  of  York,  who  was  deprived 
of  his  see  in  1554,  and  imprisoned  in  the  Tower, 
and  while  confined  there  had  his  houses  at  Batter- 
sea  and  Cawood  rifled  of  all  their  valuables. 

It  is  evident  that  many  of  Cranmer's  books 
were  acquired  by  Lord  Lumley,  then  a  young 
nobleman  in  high  favour  at  Court;  and  others 
by  Lord  Lumley's  father-in-law,  Henry  Fitzalan, 
Earl  of  Arundel,  the  Lord  Steward,  who  at  that 
time  was  forming  a  library  at  Nonsuch,  which  he 
had  recently  purchased  of  the  Queen ;  as  a  number 


20  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

of  the  volumes  which  were  in  their  libraries  have 
the  Archbishop's  name  inscribed  in  them. 

By  far  the  larger  portion  of  Cranmer's  books 
which  have  survived  to  the  present  time  are  pre- 
served in  the  British  Museum,  whither  they  came 
in  1757  as  part  of  the  old  Royal  Library,  Henry 
Prince  of  Wales  having  purchased  the  Lumley  and 
Arundel  collections  in  1609.  But  some  are  also 
possessed  by  the  Cambridge  University  Library, 
the  Bodleian  Library,  and  the  Archiepiscopal 
Library  at  Lambeth,  while  others  are  to  be  found 
on  the  shelves  of  various  cathedral  and  collegiate 
libraries,  and  a  few  are  in  private  hands.  Those 
belonging  to  the  two  University  Libraries  were 
probably  gifts  of  Lord  Lumley,  who  presented 
eighty-four  volumes  to  the  Cambridge  University 
Library  in  1598,  and  forty  to  the  Bodleian  in  the 
following  year. 

Cranmer  was  the  author  of  several  theological 
books,  and  he  also  wrote  the  prologue  to  the 
second  edition  of  the  'Great  Bible,'  printed  in 
1540.  His  works  were  collected  and  arranged  by 
H.  Jenkyns,  and  published  in  four  volumes  at 
Oxford  in  1833.  There  is  a  portrait  of  the  Arch- 
bishop, at  the  age  of  fifty-seven,  by  G.  Fliccius 
in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery,  and  others  are 
at  Cambridge  and  Lambeth.  Cranmer  was  born 
at  Aslacton  Manor,  in  Nottinghamshire,  on  the 

2 1  st  of  July   1489,  and  burned  at  the  stake  at 
Oxford  on  the  21st  of  March  1556. 


hbishor  Parker. 


ARCHBISHOP  PARKER  21 


MATTHEW  PARKER,  ARCHBISHOP  OF 
CANTERBURY,  1 504-1 575 

Matthew  Parker,  the  second  Protestant  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  was  born  at  Norwich  on 
the  6th  of  August  1504.  He  was  the  son  of 
William  Parker,  a  calenderer  of  stuffs,  who, 
Strype  says,  '  lived  in  very  good  reputation  and 
plenty,  and  was  a  gentleman,  bearing  for  his  coat 
of  arms  on  a  field  gules,  three  keys  erected.  To 
which  shield,  in  honour  of  the  Archbishop,  a 
chevron  was  added  afterwards,  charged  with 
three  resplendent  estoilles.'  Parker  was  first 
privately  educated,  and  afterwards  proceeded  to 
Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge,  of  which 
college  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  in  1527.  In  the 
same  year  he  took  holy  orders,  and  in  1535  was 
appointed  Chaplain  to  Queen  Anne  Boleyn,  who 
shortly  afterwards  conferred  on  him  the  Deanery 
of  the  College  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  at  Stoke, 
near  Clare  in  Suffolk.  In  1538  he  was  created  a 
Doctor  of  Divinity,  and  made  one  of  the  King's 
chaplains ;  and  in  1544  he  was  elected  Master 
of  Corpus  Christi  College.  He  was  chosen  to 
the  office  of  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  University  of 
Cambridge  in  1545,  and  again  in  1549.  In  1552 
he  was  appointed  to  the  Deanery  of  Lincoln, 
of  which  he  was  deprived  in  1554.     During  the 


22  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

reign  of  Mary,  Parker  lived  quietly  pursuing  his 
studies,  as  he  himself  tells  us,  4  Postea  privatus 
vixi,  ita  coram  Deo  laetus  in  conscientia  mea ; 
adeoque  nee  pudefactus,  nee  dejectus,  ut  dulcis- 
simum  otium  literarium,  ad  quod  Dei  bona 
providentia  me  revocavit,  multo  majores  et 
solidiores  voluptates  mihi  pepererit,  quam  nego- 
tiosum  illud  et  periculosum  vivendi  genus  unquam 
placuit.'  On  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  he  was 
summoned  from  his  retirement  and  made  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury.  His  consecration  took 
place  on  the  17th  of  December  1559.  He  died 
on  the  17th  of  May  1575,  and  was  buried  in  his 
private  chapel  at  Lambeth,  in  a  tomb  which  he 
had  himself  prepared.  His  remains,  however, 
were  disinterred  in  1648  by  Colonel  Scot,  the 
regicide,  and  buried  under  a  dunghill,  but  after 
the  Restoration  they  were  replaced  in  the  chapel. 

Parker  married  in  1547  Margaret,  daughter 
of  Robert  Harlestone  of  Matsal,  in  the  county 
of  Norfolk,  by  whom  he  had  four  sons,  of  whom 
two  died  in  infancy,  and  a  daughter.  John,  the 
eldest  son,  was  knighted  in  1603,  and  died 
in  1618. 

Archbishop  Parker  was  not  only  a  great 
churchman,  a  distinguished  scholar,  and  a  warm 
promoter  of  learning,  but  he  was  also  an  ardent 
collector  of  books,  and  formed  a  very  fine  and 
valuable  library,  composed  to  a  great  extent  of 
rare   and   choice   manuscripts   which    had    once 


ARCHBISHOP  PARKER  23 

belonged  to  the  suppressed  monasteries  and 
religious  houses.  He  also  appears  to  have  pur- 
chased Bale's  fine  collection  of  manuscripts. 

Some  of  his  books  he  presented  to  the 
Cambridge  University  Library  during  his  life- 
time, and  in  his  will  he  made  bequests  of  other 
volumes  from  his  collection  to  that  library.  He 
also  gave  books  to  the  libraries  of  the  colleges  of 
Caius  and  Trinity  Hall,  but  the  great  bulk  of  his 
manuscripts  and  printed  books  he  left  to  his  own 
college  of  Corpus  Christi.1  An  original  list  of 
these  volumes  is  preserved  in  the  college,  with  a 
note  by  John  Parker,  the  Archbishop's  son,  stat- 
ing that  the  missing  volumes  'weare  not  found 
by  me  in  my  father's  Librarie,  but  either  lent  or 
embezeled,  whereby  I  could  not  deliver  them  to 
the  college.'  Some  singular  conditions  were 
attached  to  this  bequest  by  the  Archbishop. 
'  Every  year  on  the  6th  of  August,  the  collection 
is  to  be  visited  by  the  masters  or  locum  tenentes 
of  Trinity  Hall  and  Caius,  with  two  scholars  on 
Archbishop  Parker's  foundation,  and  if,  on  ex- 
amination of  the  library,  twenty-five  books  are 
missing,  or  cannot  be  found  within  six  months, 
the  whole  collection  devolves  to  Caius.  In  that 
case  the  masters  or  locum  tenentes  of  Trinity 
Hall  and  Benet,  with  two  scholars  on  the  same 

1  An  interesting  account  of  the  sources  of  the  manuscripts,  by  Montague 
Rhodes  James,  Litt.D.,  Director  of  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum,  was  published 
in  1899  by  the  Cambridge  Antiquarian  Society. 


24         '  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

foundation,  are  the  visitors  :  and  if  Caius  College 
be  guilty  of  the  like  neglect,  the  books  to  be 
delivered  up  to  Trinity  Hall :  then  the  masters 
or  locum  tenentes  of  Caius  and  Benet,  with  two 
such  scholars,  become  the  inspectors;  and  in 
case  of  default  on  part  of  Trinity  Hall,  the  whole 
collection  reverts  back  to  its  former  order.  On 
the  examination  day,  the  visitors  dine  in  the 
College  Hall,  and  receive  three  shillings  and 
four  pence,  and  the  scholars  one  shilling  each.'1 
It  is  also  probable  that  he  was  a  benefactor  to 
the  library  at  Lambeth,  for  some  of  the  manu- 
scripts preserved  there  contain  notes  in  his  hand- 
writing. The  books  which  he  did  not  specially 
bequeath  he  left  to  his  son  John,  afterwards 
Sir  John  Parker. 

In  addition  to  the  books  which  Parker  gave 
to  Corpus  Christi  College  he  founded  several 
scholarships  in  connection  with  it,  and  bestowed 
upon  it  large  sums  of  money  and  presents  of 
plate.  He  also  gave  various  pieces  of  plate  to 
Gonville  and  Caius  College  and  Trinity  Hall. 

Parker's  love  for  books,  and  the  pains  he  took 
to  rescue  the  precious  volumes  which,  after  the 
dissolution  of  the  abbeys  and  religious  houses, 
were  being  destroyed  or  sold  for  common  pur- 
poses, is  so  well  told  by  Strype  that  his  account 
is  worth  giving  at  length  :  '  His  learning,  though 
it  were  universal,  yet  it  ran  chiefly  upon  antiquity. 

1  Hartshorne,  Book  Rarities  in  the  University  of  Cambridge^  p.  9. 


ARCHBISHOP  PARKER  25 

Insomuch  that  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  anti- 
quarians of  the  age.  And  the  world  is  for  ever 
beholden  to  him  for  two  things;  viz.,  for  retrieving 
many  ancient  authors,  Saxon  and  British,  as  well 
as  Norman,  and  for  restoring  and  enlightening  a 
great  deal  of  the  ancient  history  of  this  noble 
island.  He  lived  in,  or  soon  after,  those  times, 
wherein  opportunities  were  given  for  searches 
after  these  antiquities.  For  when  the  abbeys 
and  religious  houses  were  dissolved,  and  the 
books  that  were  contained  in  the  libraries  there- 
unto belonging  underwent  the  same  fate,  being 
miserably  embezzled,  and  sold  away  to  trades- 
men for  little  or  nothing,  for  their  ordinary  shop 
uses ;  then  did  our  Parker,  and  some  few  more 
lovers  of  ancient  learning,  procure,  both  by  their 
money  and  their  friends,  what  books  soever  they 
could  :  and  having  got  them  into  their  possession, 
esteemed  many  of  them  as  their  greatest  treasures, 
which  other  ignorant  spoilers  esteemed  but  as 
trash,  and  to  be  burnt,  or  sold  at  easy  rates,  or 
converted  to  any  ordinary  uses. 

'  He  was  therefore  a  mighty  collector  of  books, 
to  preserve,  as  much  as  could  be,  the  ancient 
monuments  of  the  learned  men  of  our  nation 
from  perishing.  And  for  that  purpose  he  did 
employ  divers  men  proper  for  such  an  end,  to 
search  all  England  over,  and  Wales,  (and  perhaps 
Scotland  and  Ireland  too),  for  books  of  all  sorts, 
some   modern   as  well  as  ancient ;  and  to  buy 

D 


26         #  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

them  up  for  his  use;  giving  them  commission 
and  authority  under  his  own  hand  for  doing  the 
same.  One  of  these,  named  Batman,1  in  the 
space  of  no  more  than  four  years,  procured  for 
our  Archbishop  to  the  number  of  6700  books. 
It  seems  to  be  almost  incredible,  then,  what 
infinite  volumes  all  the  rest  of  his  agents  in 
many  more  years  must  have  retrieved  for  him. 

1  It  was  in  those  times  that  many  of  our 
choicest  mss.  were  conveyed  out  of  the  land 
beyond  sea.  Of  this  our  Archbishop  complained 
often  ;  taking  it  heavily,  as  he  wrote  in  one  of  his 
letters  to  Secretary  Cecyl,  "that  the  nation  was 
deprived  of  such  choice  monuments,  so  much  as 
he  saw  they  were  in  those  days,  partly  by  being 
spent  in  shops,  and  used  as  waste  paper,  or  con- 
veyed over  beyond  sea,  by  some  who  considered 
more  their  own  private  gain  than  the  honour  of 
their  country."  This  was  the  reason  he  took  so 
much  pleasure  in  the  said  Secretary's  library ; 
"that  such  mss.  might  be  preserved  within  the 
realm,  and  not  sent  over  by  covetous  stationers, 
or  spoiled  in  the  apothecaries'  shops."  .  .  .  For 
the  retrieving  of  these  ancient  treatises  and  mss. 
as  much  as  might  be,  the  Archbishop  had  such 
abroad,  as  he  appointed  to  lay  out  for  them 
wheresoever  they  were  to  be  met  with,  as  was 
shewn  before. 

1  Dr.  Stephen  Batman,  one  of  the  Archbishop's  domestic  chaplains, 
editor  of  De  Proprietatibus  Rerum,  by  Bartholomeus  Anglicanus. 


ARCHBISHOP  PARKER  27 

1  But  he  procured  not  a  few  himself  from  such 
in  his  own  time  as  were  studious  in  antiquity: 
as,  namely,  several  Saxon  books  from  Robert 
Talbot,1  a  great  collector  of  such  ancient  writings 
in  King  Henry  the  Eighth's  time,  and  an  ac- 
quaintance of  Leland,  Bale,  etc.  Some  of  which 
writings  the  said  Talbot  had  from  Dr.  Owen,2  the 
said  King  Henry's  physician ;  and  some  our 
archbishop  likewise  had  from  him ;  as  appears  in 
one  of  the  Cotton  volumes : 3  which  is  made  up  of 
a  collection  of  various  charters,  etc.,  written  out 
by  Joh.  Joscelyn.4  Where  at  some  of  these  mss. 
collected,  the  said  Joscelyn  adds  these  notes, 
The  copy  of  this  Dr.  Talbot  had  of  Dr.  Owen. 
The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  had  this  charter 
from  Dr.  Owen,  etc.  There  be  other  collections 
of  this  nature  now  remaining  in  Benet  College, 
sometime  belonging  to  this  Talbot,  which  we 
may  presume  the  Archbishop,  partly  by  his  own 
interest,  and  partly  by  the  interest  of  Bale,  Caius, 
and  others,  obtained  ;  particularly  his  annotations 
upon  that  part  of  Antoninus's  Itinerarimn  which 

1  Robert  Talbot,  Rector  of  Haversham,  Berkshire,  and  Treasurer  of 
Norwich  Cathedral,  was  the  son  of  John  Talbot  of  Thorpe  Malsover,  Nor- 
thamptonshire. He  was  born  about  1 505,  and  was  educated  at  Winchester 
and  New  College,  Oxford.  Camden  calls  him  'a  learned  antiquary,' and 
Lambarde  describes  him  as  '  a  diligent  trauayler  in  the  Englishe  hystorye.' 
He  died  in  1558,  and  was  buried  in  Norwich  Cathedral.  His  choicest 
manuscripts  were  left  by  him  to  New  College. 

*  Dr.  Owen,  physician  to  King  Henry  VIII.,  King  Edward  VI.,  and 
Queen  Mary.    He  died  in  1558,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Stephen's,  Walbrook. 

3  Vitellius  D.  7. 

4  An  antiquary  who  resided  in  the  Archbishop's  house,  and  who  wrote 
the  lives  in  De  Anliquitatc  Britannica  Ecclesice. 


28  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLF.CTORS 

belongs  to  Britain.  And  another  De  Chart  is 
quibusdam  regum  Britanuorum.  These  are 
mentioned  by  Anthony  a  Wood. 

1  And  he  kept  such  in  his  family  as  could 
imitate  any  of  the  old  characters  admirably  well. 
One  of  these  was  Lyly,  an  excellent  writer,  and 
that  could  counterfeit  any  antique  writing.  Him 
the  Archbishop  customarily  used  to  make  old 
books  complete,  that  wanted  some  pages ;  that 
the  character  might  seem  to  be  the  same  through- 
out. So  that  he  acquired  at  length  an  admirable 
collection  of  ancient  mss.  and  very  many  too :  as 
we  may  conjecture  from  his  diligence  for  so  many 
years  as  he  lived,  in  buying  and  procuring  such 
monuments.  The  remainders  of  his  highly  valu- 
able collections  are  now  preserved  in  several 
libraries  of  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  but  chiefly  in  that  of  Benet  College, 
Cambridge.' 

Archbishop  Parker  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  in  1572.  He  took 
a  special  interest  in  the  early  English  Chronicles, 
and  endeavoured  to  revive  the  study  of  the  Saxon 
language.  Among  other  works  he  caused  to 
be  printed  Flores  Historiarum,  attributed  to 
Matthew  of  Westminster,  Matthew  Paris's 
Historia  Major,  and  the  Latin  text  of  Asser's 
Alfredi  Regis  Res  Gestce  in  Saxon  characters, 
cut  by  John  Day,  the  printer.  He  also,  says 
Strype,  '  laboured  to  forward  the  composing  and 


ARCHBISHOP  PARKER  29 

publishing  of  a  Saxon  Dictionary.'  His  great 
work,  De  Antiquitate  Britannicce  Ecclesice  et 
Privilegiis  Ecclesice  Cantuariensis,  cum  Archi- 
episcopis  eiusdem  70,  which,  if  not  written  by 
him,  was  produced  under  his  immediate  super- 
vision, was  printed  by  John  Day  in  Lambeth 
Palace  in  1572.  A  very  limited  number  of  copies 
of  this  work,  the  first  book  privately  printed  in 
England,  were  struck  off;  not  more  than  twenty- 
five  are  known  to  exist,  and  no  two  are  found 
quite  alike.  The  preparation  of  the  Bishops' 
Bible,  which  was  completed  in  1568,  was  per- 
formed under  his  auspices.  A  presentation  copy 
to  Queen  Elizabeth  from  the  Archbishop  of  the 
Flores  Historiarum,  very  handsomely  bound, 
with  the  royal  arms  on  the  covers ;  and  a  copy 
of  the  work  De  Antiquitate  Britannicce  Ecclesice, 
etc.,  in  a  fine  embroidered  binding,  which  is  also 
believed  to  have  been  presented  to  the  Queen 
by  the  Archbishop,  are  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum.  These  books  were  probably  bound  in 
Lambeth  Palace,  for  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Burghley, 
dated  the  9th  of  May  1573,  the  Archbishop 
writes,  with  reference  to  the  last-named  work, 
1 1  have  within  my  house  on  wagis,  drawers  and 
cutters,  paynters,  lymners,  wryters,  and  boke- 
bynders ' ;  and  he  adds  that  he  has  sent  Lord 
Burghley  a  copy  of  it  '  bound  by  my  man.' 

A  list  of  Parker's  writings,  and  his  editions 
of  authors  will   be  found  in  Coopers'  Athena 


30  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Cantabrigienses.  There  are  portraits  of  him  in 
Lambeth  Palace,  the  Guildhall  at  Norwich, 
Corpus  Christi  College,  and  in  the  Master's 
Lodge,  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  There  is 
also  a  rare  portrait  of  him,  engraved  in  1573, 
by  Remigius  Hogenberg,  who  appears  to  have 
been  in  the  service  of  the  Archbishop. 


HENRY  FITZALAN,  EARL  OF 
ARUNDEL,  i5i3?-i58o 

Henry  Fitzalan,  twelfth  Earl  of  Arundel,  was 
born  about  the  year  151 3.  He  was  the  only  son 
of  William  Fitzalan,  eleventh  Earl  of  Arundel, 

K.G.,  by  his  second  wife, 
Anne,  daughter  of  Henry 
Percy,  fourth  Earl  of  Nor- 
thumberland. 

When    fourteen    years   of 
age   his   father  was    anxious 

The  Earl  of  Arundel's         tO    place     him     in     the     hoUSe- 

DBV,CK*  hold    of    Cardinal     Wolsey, 

but  he  preferred  to  offer  his  service  to  his  god- 
father, King  Henry  vin.,  'who  did  noblely 
receave  him,  and  well  esteemed  of  him  for  the 
same.' l     In  1534  he  was  summoned  to  Parliament 

1  MS.  Life  of  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  evidently  written  by  one  of  his 
most  intimate  servants,  probably  a  chaplain. — Royal  MSS.,  17  A  ix.,  British 
Museum. 


EARL  OF  ARUNDEL  31 

in  his  father's  barony  as  Lord  Maltravers,1  and 
in  1536,  although  only  twenty-three  years  of  age, 
he  was  appointed  Governor  of  Calais,  a  post  he 
held  until  the  death  of  his  father  in  January  1544. 
On  the  24th  of  April  in  the  same  year  he  was 
made  a  K.G.,  and  in  the  following  July  he  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  '  Marshal  of  the  Field  ' 
in  the  army  which  invaded  France.  He  greatly 
distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  of  Boulogne, 
and  on  his  return  home  he  was  made  Lord 
Chamberlain,  which  office  he  held  until  the 
fourth  year  of  King  Edward  vi.'s  reign,  when, 
on  a  false  and  ridiculous  charge  of  abusing  the 
privileges  of  his  post  to  enrich  himself  and  his 
friends,  he  was  deprived  of  it,  and  fined  twelve 
thousand  pounds,  eight  thousand  pounds  of 
which  was  afterwards  remitted.2 

On  the  death  of  Edward,  Arundel  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  proceedings  which  placed 
Mary  on  the  throne,  and  as  a  reward  for  his 
exertions  he  was  made  Lord  Steward  of  the 
Household,  and  was  also  given  a  seat  on  the 
Council  Board.  Queen  Elizabeth,  on  her  acces- 
sion to  the  crown,  continued  him  in  all  the 
appointments  which  he  had  held  in  the  preceding 

1  Complete  Peerage  of  England,  etc.     Edited  by  G.  E.  C 

2  '  Th'  erle  of  Arrundel  committed  to  his  house  for  certaine  crimes  of 
suspicion  against  him,  as  pluking  downe  of  boltes  and  lokkes  at  West- 
minster, giving  of  my  stuff  away,  etc.,  and  put  to  a  fine  of  12,000  pound  to 
be  paide  a  1000  pound  yerely,  of  which  he  was  after  released.'— Journal  of 
King  Edward  VI.,  Cotton  MSS.,  C  x.,  British  Museum. 


32  ENGLISH   HOOK  COLLECTORS 

reign,  and  on  several  occasions  visited  him  at 
Nonsuch,  his  residence  at  Cheam  in  Surrey. 
These  marks  of  kindness  led  him,  it  is  said,  to 
aspire  to  a  union  with  his  royal  mistress ;  but 
being  disappointed  in  gaining  her  hand,  and 
'being  miscontented  with  sundry  things,'  in  1564 
he  resigned  his  post  of  Lord  Steward  '  with 
sundry  Speeches  of  Offence,' l  which  so  displeased 
Elizabeth  that  she  ordered  him  to  confine  himself 
to  his  house.  He  afterwards  partially  regained 
the  favour  of  the  Queen,  but  having  endeavoured 
to  promote  the  marriage  of  his  widowed  son- 
in-law,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  with  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots,  he  was  once  more  placed  under  arrest, 
and  although  after  a  time  he  obtained  his  release, 
it  was  followed  by  further  imprisonment,  and  he 
did  not  finally  regain  his  liberty  until  some 
months  after  the  execution  of  Norfolk  on  the 
2nd  of  June  1572. 

Arundel  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life  in 
retirement,  affectionately  tended  until  her  death 
in  1577  by  'his  nursse  and  deare  beloved  childe' 
Lady  Lumley.  He  died  on  the  24th  of  February 
1580  at  Arundel  House  in  the  Strand,  and  was 
buried  in  the  Collegiate  Chapel  at  Arundel,  where 
a  monument,  with  an  inscription  by  his  son-in- 
law,  Lord  Lumley,  was  erected  to  his  memory. 

Arundel  was  twice  married.  By  his  first 
wife,    Katherine,    second    daughter    of    Thomas 

1  Strype,  Annals  (London,  1709),  i.  413. 


EARL  OF  ARUNDEL  33 

Grey,  Marquis  of  Dorset,  he  had  one  son,  Henry, 
Lord  Maltravers,  who  died  in  1556,  and  two 
daughters  :  Jane,  who  married  Lord  Lumley,  and 
Mary,  who  became  the  wife  of  Thomas  Howard, 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  beheaded  in  1572.  His  second 
wife,  Mary,  who  died  in  1557,  was  a  daughter  of 
Sir  John  Arundell  of  Lanherne,  Cornwall,  and 
widow  of  Robert  Ratcliffe,  first  Earl  of  Sussex. 
By  her  he  had  no  issue. 

With  the  assistance  of  Humphrey  Llwyd,  the 
physician  and  antiquary,  who  married  Barbara, 
sister  of  Lord  Lumley,  Lord  Arundel  formed  at 
his  residence  of  Nonsuch  a  fine  collection  of 
books,  many  of  which  had  once  been  the  property 
of  Archbishop  Cranmer.  An  account  of  this 
mansion  is  given  in  the  manuscript  Life  of  Lord 
Arundel,  to  which  we  have  already  alluded, 
and  it  also  contains  a  reference  to  his  library. 
'This  Earle  moreover  continewed  allwayes  of  a 
greate  and  noble  mynde.  Amonge  the  number 
of  whose  doings,  that  past  in  his  tyme,  this  one 
is  not  the  least,  to  showe  his  magnificence,  that 
perceivinge  a  sumptuous  house  called  Nonsuche 
to  have  bene  begon,  but  not  finished,  by  his  first 
maister  Kinge  Henry  the  eighte,  and  thearfore  in 
Quene  Maryes  tyme,  thoughte  mete  rather  to  have 
bene  pulled  downe  and  solde  by  peacemeale  then 
to  be  perfited  at  her  charges,  he,  for  the  love  and 
honour  he  bare  to  his  olde  maister,  desired  to 
buye  the  same  house,  by  greace,  of  the  Quene, 


34  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

for  \vch  he  gave  faire  lands  unto  her  Highnes ; 
and  having  the  same,  did  not  leave  till  he  had 
fullye  finished  it  in  buildings,  reparations, 
paviments  and  gardens,  in  as  ample  and  perfit 
sorte  as  by  the  first  intente  and  meaninge  of  the 
saide  Kinge  his  old  maister,  the  same  should 
have  bene  performed,  and  so  it  is  nowe  evident 
to  be  beholden  of  all  strangers,  and  others,  for 
the  honour  of  this  Realme  as  a  pearle  thereof. 
The  same  he  haith  lefte  to  his  posterity,  garnished 
and  replenished  with  riche  furnitures ;  amonge 
the  w°h  his  Lybrarye  is  righte  worthye  of  re- 
membrance.' 

Lord  Arundel  left  Nonsuch,  with  its  library 
and  furniture,  together  with  the  greater  part  of 
his  estates,  to  his  son-in-law,  Lord  Lumley. 

There  are  portraits  of  the  Earl  of  Arundel 
by  Holbein  and  Sir  Anthony  More.  That  by 
Holbein,  which  is  in  the  collection  of  the  Mar- 
quis of  Bath,  is  engraved  in  Lodge's  Portraits 
of  Illustrious  Personages. 


SIR  THOMAS  SMITH,  1513-1577 

Sir  Thomas  Smith,  who  was  Secretary  of  State 
to  King  Edward  vi.,  and  afterwards  to  Queen 
Elizabeth,  was  born  at  Saffron  Walden,  Essex, 
on  the  23rd  of  December  15 13.     He  was  the  son 


SIR  THOMAS  SMITH 


35 


of  John  Smith  of  Saffron  Walden  and  Agnes 
Charnock,  a  member  of  an  old  Lancashire  family. 
When  eleven  years  old  he  was  sent  to  Queens' 
College,  Cambridge,  as  he  himself  informs  us 
in  his  Autobiographical  Notes,  now  preserved 
in  the  British  Museum,1  which  he  wrote  for  the 
purpose  of  having  his  na- 
tivity cast:  '1525.  Sub  fine 
11  ani  circa  festti  Micfcis 
Cantabrigiam  su  missus  ad 
bonas  If  as.'  Here  he  so 
greatly  distinguished  him- 
self that  King  Henry  vm. 
chose  him  and  John  Cheke, 
afterwards  tutor  to  Prince 
Edward,  to  be  his  scholars, 
and  allotted  them  salaries 
for  the  encouragement  of 
their  studies.  Cheke  makes 
mention  of  this  honour  in  an 
epistle  to  the  King  prefixed  to  his  edition  of  Two 
Homilies  of  St.  John  Chrysostom,  published  at 
London  in  1543:  'Cooptasti  me  et  Thomam 
Smithum  socium  atque  aequalem  meum,  in 
scholasticos  tuos.'  Smith  specially  applied  him- 
self to  the  study  of  the  Greek  classics,  and  also 
to  the  reformation  of  the  faulty  pronunciation  of 
the  Greek  language  which  then  prevailed ;  and  in  a 
short  time,  so  Strype,  in  his  Life  of  Sir  T.  Smith, 

1  Sloane  mss.  325,  f.  2. 


Sir  Thomas  Smith's 
Book-stamp. 


36  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

tells  us,  his  more  correct  way  'prevailed  all  the 
University  over.'  I  le  also  endeavoured  to  intro- 
duce a  new  English  alphabet  of  twenty-nine 
letters,  and  to  amend  the  spelling  of  the  time, 
'some  of  the  syllables,'  he  considered,  'being 
stuffed  with  needless  letters.'  As  early  as  1531 
he  had  become  a  Fellow  of  his  college,  and 
in  1534  he  was  chosen  University  Orator.  In 
1540  Smith  paid  a  visit  to  the  Continent,  and 
proceeded  to  Padua,  where  he  took  the  degree 
of  D.C.L.  On  his  return  to  England  in  1542  he 
was  made  LL.D.  at  Cambridge,  and  at  the 
beginning  of  1544  was  appointed  Regius  Pro- 
fessor of  Civil  Law  at  the  University.  In  the 
succeeding  year  he  served  as  Vice-Chancellor, 
and  also  became  Chancellor  to  Goodrich,  Bishop 
of  Ely,  by  whom  in  1546  he  was  collated  to  the 
rectory  of  Leverington,  Cambridgeshire,  and  also 
ordained  priest,  a  fact  unknown  to  Strype.  About 
the  same  time  he  received  a  prebend  from  the 
Dean  of  Lincoln,  and  soon  after  he  became 
Provost  of  Eton  and  Dean  of  Carlisle.  Towards 
the  end  of  February  1547,  Smith  was  sum- 
moned to  court,  and  '  mutata  clericali  veste,  mo- 
doque,  ac  vivendi  forma,'1  he  was  made  Clerk 
of  the  Privy  Council,  and  Master  of  the  Court 
of  Requests  of  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  then  Lord 
Protector.  On  the  14th  of  April  1548  he  was 
sworn  one  of  the  King's  Secretaries,  and  knighted 

1  Autobiographical  Notes  by  Sir  T.  Smith. 


SIR  THOMAS  SMITH  2>7 

in  the  beginning  of  the  following  year.  Shortly 
after  his  appointment  Smith  was  sent  as  am- 
bassador to  the  Emperor  Charles  v.,  and  in 
1 55 1  he  took  part  in  the  embassy  to  France  to 
arrange  a  match  for  the  King  with  the  French 
sovereign's  eldest  daughter.  On  the  accession  of 
Mary  he  lost  all  his  offices  and  preferments,  but 
he  managed  to  pass  through  this  dangerous  reign 
in  safety ;  and  Strype  says  of  him,  '  that  when 
many  were  most  cruelly  burnt  for  the  profession 
of  the  religion  which  he  held,  he  escaped,  and 
was  saved  even  in  the  midst  of  the  fire,  which  he 
probably  might  have  an  eye  to  in  changing  the 
crest  of  his  coat-of-arms,  which  now  was  a  sala- 
mander living  in  the  midst  of  a  flame ;  whereas 
before  it  was  an  eagle  holding  a  writing-pen 
flaming  in  his  dexter  claw.'  When  Elizabeth 
came  to  the  throne,  Smith  returned  to  court,  and 
was  engaged  in  several  embassies  to  France.  In 
1572  the  Queen  conferred  on  him  the  Chancellor- 
ship of  the  Order  of  the  Garter ;  and  shortly 
afterwards,  on  Lord  Burghley's  preferment  to  the 
office  of  Lord  Treasurer,  vacant  by  the  death  of 
the  Marquis  of  Winchester,  made  him  Secretary 
of  State,  a  post  which,  four-and-twenty  years 
before,  he  held  under  Edward  vi.  Smith  died  at 
his  residence  called  Mounthaut,  or  Hill-hall,  in 
Essex  on  the  12th  of  August  1577,  and  was 
buried  in  the  parish  church  of  Theydon  Mount, 
where  a  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory. 

264422 


38  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

He  was  twice  married,  but  had  no  children  by 
cither  of  his  wives. 

Sir  Thomas  Smith  possessed  a  fine  library  of 
about  a  thousand  volumes.  He  bequeathed  all 
his  Latin  and  Greek  books,  as  well  as  his  great 
globe,  of  his  own  making,  to  Queens'  College, 
Cambridge,  or,  if  that  college  did  not  care  to 
have  them,  to  Peterhouse.  Some  of  his  Italian 
and  French  books  he  gave  to  the  Queen's  Library, 
and  many  volumes  were  also  left  to  friends. 
Strype  gives  a  list  of  the  contents  of  the  library 
at  Hill-hall  in  1566. 

Smith  was  the  author  of  several  works,  the 
principal  one  being  De  Republica  Anglorum ;  the 
Maner  of  Gouvernement  or  Policie  of  the  Realm 
of  England,  London,  1583,  4to.  Between  1583 
and  1640  this  work  passed  through  ten  editions, 
and  several  Latin  and  other  translations  of  it 
have  been  published. 

A  portrait  of  him  by  Holbein  is  at  Theydon 
Mount,  and  another  is  preserved  at  Queens' 
College,  Cambridge. 


WILLIAM  CECIL,  LORD  BURGHLEY, 
1 520- 1 598 

William  Cecil,  Lord  Burghley,  a  relation  of 
whose  life  would  be  the  history  of  England 
during    the    reign    of    Elizabeth,    was    born    in 


LORD  BURGHLEY  39 

1520  and  died  in  1598.  This  great  statesman, 
who  at  the  age  of  sixteen  delivered  a  lecture  on 
the  logic  of  the  Schools,  and  at  nineteen  one  on 
the  Greek  language,  found  time  amid  the  cares 
and  anxieties  attendant  on  his  high  position  to 
form  a  library,  which  Strype  tells  us  was  a  very 
choice  one.  The  same  authority  also  mentions 
that  he  gave  many  books  to  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  'both  Latin  and  Greek,  concerning 
the  canon  and  civil  law  and  physic'  In  1687 
a  considerable  portion  of  his  printed  books  and 
manuscripts  was  sold  by  auction.  The  title-page 
of  the  sale  catalogue  reads  '  Bibliotheca  Illustriss: 
sive  Catalogus  Variorum  Librorum  in  quavis 
Lingua  et  Facultate  Insignium  ornatissimae 
Bibliothecae  Viri  Cujusdam  Praenobilis  ac  Hono- 
ratissimi  olim  defuncti,  Libris  rarissimis  tarn 
Typis  excusis  quam  Manuscriptis  refertissimae : 
Quorum  Auctio  habebitur  Londini,  ad  Insigne 
Ursi  in  Vico  dicto  Ave- Mary- Lane  prope 
Templum  D.  Pauli,  Novemb.  21,  1687.  Per 
T.  Bentley  and  B.  Walford,  Bibliopolas.  Lond.' ; 
and  in  the  Preface  we  read : — '  If  the  catalogue, 
here  presented,  were  only  of  Common  Books, 
and  such  as  were  easie  to  be  had,  it  would  not 
have  been  very  necessary  to  have  Prefac'd  any 
thing  to  the  Reader:  But  since  it  appears  in 
the  World  with  two  Circumstances,  which  no 
Auction  in  England  (perhaps)  ever  had  before; 
nor  is  it  probable  that  the  like  should  frequently 


4o  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

happen  again,  it  would  seem  an  Oversight,  if  we 
should  neglect  to  advertise  the  Reader  of  them. 
The  first  is,  That  it  comprises  the  main  part  of 
the  Library  of  that  Famous  Secretary  William 
Cecil,  Lord  Burleigh  :  which  consider'd,  must  put 
it  out  of  doubt,  that  these  Books  are  excellent  in 
their  several  kinds  and  well-chosen.  The  second 
is,  That  it  contains  a  greater  number  of  Ran 
Manuscripts  than  ever  yet  were  offer'd  together 
in  this  way,  many  of  which  are  rendred  the 
more  valuable  by  being  remark'd  upon  by  the 
hand  of  the  said  great  Man.  This  Auction  will 
begin  on  Monday  the  21st  day  of  November 
next  1687,  at  the  sign  of  the  Bear  in  Ave-Mary- 
Lane,  near  the  West-end  of  St.  Paul's  Church, 
continuing  day  by  day  the  first  five  days  of 
every  Week,  till  all  the  Books  are  sold,  from 
the  Hours  of  Nine  in  the  Morning  till  Twelve, 
and  from  Two  till  Six  in  the  Evening.'  There 
were  three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty- 
four  lots  of  printed  books,  and  four  hundred 
and  thirteen  manuscripts  in  two  hundred  and 
forty-three  lots  in  the  sale.  A  copy  of  the 
catalogue,  marked  with  the  prices,  is  preserved 
in  the  British  Museum.  The  printed  books  in 
the  sale  do  not  appear  to  have  been  exceptionally 
choice  or  rare,  but  there  were  some  valuable 
manuscripts.  A  few  of  the  most  notable,  to- 
gether with  the  prices  they  fetched,  are  given 
in  the  following  list : — 


LORD  BURGHLEY  41 

Biblia  Sacra  Antiquissima,  folio  magno, 
vellum  —  six  pounds,  twelve  shillings  ;  Poly- 
chronicon  vetus  MS.  per  Radulphum  Hygden, 
nunquam  Latine  impressum,  vellum  —  eleven 
pounds ;  Wicklifs  Book  of  Postils  or  Sermons 
in  Old  English — seven  pounds,  two  shillings 
and  six  pence;  Other  Discourses  by  him — ten 
pounds,  two  shillings  and  six  pence ;  JVilhelmus 
Malmesburiensis  degestis  Regum  Anglice,  vellum 
— seven  pounds,  three  shillings ;  LHistoire  du 
Roy  Arthur,  avec  des  Figures  dories,  folio 
grand  on  vellum — three  pounds,  two  shillings ; 
Le  Chronique  de  Jean  Froissart  des  guerres  de 
France  et  DAngleterre,  folio  grand,  avec  des 
belles  Figures,  vellum  —  three  pounds,  nine 
shillings  ;  Norden  •  Speculum  Britannice — four 
pounds,  seven  shillings.  It  is  not  known  to 
whom  these  books  belonged  at  the  period  of 
the  sale,  but  it  appears  probable  they  were  the 
property  of  James  Cecil,  fourth  Earl  of  Salisbury 
(a  descendant  of  Lord  Burghley's  younger  son), 
who  succeeded  to  the  title  in  1683,  and  died  in 
1694.  He  was  mixed  up  in  the  troubles  of  the 
time,  and  was,  says  Macaulay,  '  foolish  to  a 
proverb,'  and  the '  prey  of  gamesters.'  John  Cecil, 
Earl  of  Exeter,  from  1678  to  1700,  who  was 
descended  from  Lord  Burghley's  elder  son,  was 
himself  a  book  collector,  and  therefore  not  likely 
to  part  with  the  library  of  his  illustrious  ancestor. 

The  bindings  of  Lord  Burghley's  books  are 


42  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

generally  stamped  with  his  arms,  which  are 
sometimes  encircled  by  the  order  of  the  Garter, 
but  a  little  volume  preserved  in  the  library  of 
the  British  Museum  simply  bears  his  name  and 
that  of  his   second   wife,  his   affectionate  com- 


LORD   BURGHLEY'S  BOOK-STAMP. 


panion  for  forty-three  years.  Lord  Burghley 
left  an  immense  mass  of  papers,  which  are  now 
preserved  at  Hatfield  House,  the  Record  Office, 
the  British  Museum,  etc.  Those  in  the  British 
Museum,   which    consist    of  one    hundred   and 


THOMAS  WOTTON  43 

twenty-one  folio  volumes  of  state  papers  and  the 
miscellaneous  correspondence  of  Lord  Burghley, 
together  with  his  private  note-book  and  journals, 
passed  from  Sir  Michael  Hickes,  one  of  the 
statesman's  secretaries,  to  a  descendant,  Sir 
William  Hickes,  by  whom  they  were  sold  to 
Chiswell,  the  bookseller,  and  by  him  to  Strype, 
the  historian.  On  Strype's  death  they  came 
into  the  hands  of  James  West,  and  from  his 
executors  they  were  acquired  by  William  Petty, 
first  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  whose  manuscripts 
were  purchased  by  the  Trustees  of  the  British 
Museum  in  1807.1 


THOMAS  WOTTON,  1521-1587 

Thomas  Wotton  was  born  in  1521  at  Bocton 
or  Boughton  Place,  in  the  parish  of  Boughton 
Malherbe,  in  the  county  of  Kent,  and  succeeded 
his  father,  Sir  Edward  Wotton,  in  that  estate  in 
1550.  He  was  appointed  sheriff  of  the  county 
of  Kent  in  the  last  year  of  Queen  Mary,  and  in 
July  1573  he  entertained  Elizabeth  and  her  court 
at  his  residence,  Bocton  Place,  when  she  offered 
him  knighthood,  which  he  declined.  Wotton 
was  twice  married.  By  his  first  wife,  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Sir  John   Rudstone,  he  had  three 

1  Edwards,  Lives  of  the  Founders  of  tJu  British  Museum  (London,  1870), 
p.  426. 


44  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLFXTORS 

sons  :  Edward,  knighted  by  Elizabeth,  and  afteF- 
wards  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Wotton  by 
James  i. ;  and  James  and  John,  who  were  also 
made  knights  by  Elizabeth.  His  second  wife- 
was  Eleanora,  daughter  of  Sir  William  Finch  of 
Eastwell  in  Kent,  and  widow  of  Robert  Morton, 
Esq.,  of  the  same  county,  by  whom  he  had  a  son, 
Henry,  the  poet  and  statesman,  who  was  knighted 
by  James  i.  He  died  in  London  on  the  nth 
of  January  1587,  and  was  buried  in  the  parish 
church  of  Boughton  Malherbe,  where  a  monu- 
ment was  erected  to  his  memory. 

Wotton  was  celebrated  for  his  hospitality, 
and  was  much  beloved  and  respected  by  all  who 
knew  him.  He  was  also  a  patron 
of  learning,  and  possessed  a  fine  and 
extensive  collection  of  books,  remark- 
able for  their  handsome  bindings. 
They  are  generally  ornamented  in  a 
style  similar  to  that  used  on  the 
volumes  bound  for  Grolier,  whose 
motto   he   adopted.      Although    the 

Thomas  Wotton  ^^ 

majority  of  the  bindings  executed  for 
him  bear  the  legend  thomae  wottoni  et  ami- 
corvm  as  the  only  mark  of  their  ownership,  they 
are  sometimes  impressed  with  his  arms. 

Izaak  Walton,  in  his  Life  of  Sir  Henry 
Wotton,  states  that  Thomas  Wotton  'was  a 
gentleman  excellently  educated,  and  studious  in 
all  the  liberal  arts,  in  the  knowledge  whereof  he 


DR.  DEE  45 

attained  unto  great  perfection ;  who  though  he 
had — besides  those  abilities,  a  very  noble  and 
plentiful  estate,  and  the  ancient  interest  of  his 
predecessors  —  many  invitations  from  Queen 
Elizabeth  to  change  his  country  recreations  and 
retirement  for  a  court  life :  —  offering  him  a 
knighthood,  and  that  to  be  but  as  an  earnest 
of  some  more  honourable  and  more  profitable 
employment  under  her;  yet  he  humbly  refused 
both,  being  a  man  of  great  modesty,  of  a  most 
plain  and  single  heart,  of  an  ancient  freedom, 
and  integrity  of  mind.' 


DR.  DEE,  1527-1608 

Dr.  John  Dee,  '  that  perfect  astronomer,  curious 
astrologer  and  serious  geometrician,'  as  he  is 
styled  by  Lilly,  was  born  in  London  on  the 
13th  of  July  1527.  He  was  the  son  of  Rowland 
Dee,  who,  according  to  Wood,  was  a  wealthy 
vintner,  but  who  is  described  by  Strype  as 
Gentleman  Sewer  to  Henry  vm.  In  his  Com- 
pendious Rehearsal  Dee  informs  us  that  he 
possessed  a  very  fine  collection  of  books,  '  printed 
and  anciently  written,  bound  and  unbound,  in  all 
near  4000,  the  fourth  part  of  which  were  written 
books.  The  value  of  all  which  books,  by  the 
estimation  of  men  skilful  in  the  arts,  whereof  the 


46  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

books  did  and  do  intreat,  and  that  in  divers  lan- 
guages, was  well  worth  2000  lib.' ;  and  he  adds 
that  he  '  spent  40  years  in  divers  places  beyond 
the  seas,  and  in  England  in  getting  these  books 
together.'  He  specially  mentions  *  that  four 
written   books,   one   in   Greek,    two   in    French, 


Dr.  Dee.     From  the  Ashmolcan  portrait  as  engraved  by  Schencker. 

and  one  in  High  Dutch  cost  533  lib.'  His 
library  also  contained  a  'great  case  or  frame  of 
boxes,  wherein  some  hundreds  of  very  rare  evi- 
dences of  divers  Irelandish  territories,  provinces 
and  lands  were  laid  up ;   and  divers  evidences 


DR.  DEE  47 

ancient  of  some  Welsh  princes  and   noblemen, 
their  great  gifts  of  lands  to  the  foundations  or 
enrichings  of  Sundry  Houses  of  Religious  men. 
Some  also  were  there  the  like  of  the  Normans 
donations  and  gifts  about  and  some  years  after 
the  Conquest.'     Dee,  in  a  letter  from  Antwerp  to 
Sir  William  Cecil,   afterwards   Lord   Burghley, 
dated  February  16,  1563,  also  states  that  he  had 
purchased    a  curious   book   (probably  a   manu- 
script), Steganographia,  by  Joannes  Trithemius, 
which  was  so  rare  that  '  1000  crowns  had  been 
offered   in   vain '   for  a  copy.      Dee  placed   his 
library  in  his  house  at  Mortlake,  Surrey,  and  so 
great  was  its  repute,  that  on  the  10th  of  March 
1575,  Queen  Elizabeth,  attended  by  many  of  her 
courtiers,  paid   him  a  visit  for  the  purpose  of 
examining  it ;    but  learning  that  his  wife   had 
been  buried  that  day,  she  would  not  enter  the 
house,  but  requested  him  to  show  her  his  famous 
magic  glass,  and  describe  its  properties,  which 
he  accordingly  did  !  to  her  Majesty's  great  con- 
tentment and    delight.'      In    1583,    during    his 
absence   on    the   Continent,   the  populace,   who 
execrated  him  as  '  a  caller  of  divels,'  broke  into 
his   house  and   destroyed   a  great   part   of    his 
furniture,  collections,  and  library.     On  his  return 
to  his  home  in   1589,  he  succeeded   in   regain- 
ing about  three-fourths  of  his  books ;  but  these 
were  gradually  dispersed  in  consequence  of  the 
pecuniary  difficulties  he  was  in  during  the  latter 


48  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

years  of  his  life.  Lilly  states  that  '  he  died  very 
poor,  enforced  many  times  to  sell  some  book  or 
other  to  buy  his  dinner  with.'  An  autograph 
catalogue  of  both  his  printed  and  manuscript 
books,  dated  September  6,  1583,  is  preserved 
among  the  Harleian  manuscripts  in  the  British 
Museum.1  His  private  diary,  and  a  catalogue 
of  his  manuscripts,  were  edited  in  1842  for  the 
Camden  Society  by  Mr.  J.  O.  Halliwell,  F.R.S., 
from  the  original  manuscripts  in  the  Ashmolean 
Museum  and  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  An- 
other portion  of  his  diary,  preserved  in  the 
Bodleian  Library,  was  edited  by  Mr.  J.  E.  Baily, 
F.S.A.,  and  printed  (twenty  copies  only)  at 
London  in  1880.  In  1556  Dee  presented  to 
Queen  Mary  'A  Supplication  for  the  recovery 
and  preservation  of  ancient  Writers  and  Monu- 
ments.' In  this  interesting  document  he  laments 
the  spoil  and  destruction  of  so  many  and  so 
notable  libraries  through  the  subverting  of 
religious  houses,  and  suggests  that  a  commission 
should  be  appointed  with  power  to  demand  that 
all  possessors  of  manuscripts  throughout  the 
realm  should  send  their  books  to  be  copied  for 
the  Queen's  library,  so  that  it  might  '  in  a  very 
few  years  most  plentifully  be  furnished,  and  that 
without  one  penny  charge  to  the  Queen,  or  doing 
injury  to  any  creature.'  He  himself  undertook 
to  procure  copies  of  the  famous  manuscripts  at 

1  Hart.  MSS.  1879. 


EARL  OF  LEICESTER  49 

the  Vatican,  St.  Mark's,  Venice,  Bologna,  Florence, 
Vienna,  etc. 

Dee  wrote  a  large  number  of  works,  but  com- 
paratively few  of  them  have  been  printed.  No 
fewer  than  seventy-nine  are  enumerated  in 
Coopers'  A  thence  Cantabrigienses.  A  catalogue 
of  his  writings,  printed  and  unprinted,  is  given 
in  his  Compendious  Rehearsal.  Many  of  his 
manuscripts  came  into  the  possession  of  Elias 
Ashmole,  the  eminent  antiquary. 

Aubrey  says  of  Dee  that  'he  was  a  great 
peace-maker ;  if  any  of  the  neighbours  fell  out, 
he  would  never  let  them  alone  till  he  had  made 
them  friends.  He  was  tall  and  slender.  He 
wore  a  gown  like  an  artist's  gown,  with  hanging 
sleeves,  and  a  slit.  He  had  a  very  fair,  clear, 
sanguine  complexion,  a  long  beard  as  white  as 
milk.     A  very  handsome  man.' 

He  died  in  December  1608,  and  was  buried 
in  the  chancel  of  Mortlake  Church. 


ROBERT    DUDLEY,    EARL    OF 
LEICESTER,  i532?-is88 

Robert  Dudley,  Baron  Denbigh,  and  Earl  of 
Leicester,  the  favourite  of  Elizabeth,  was  born 
on  the  24th  of  June  in  1532  or  1533.  He  was 
the  fifth  son  of  John  Dudley,  Duke  of  Northum- 
berland, who  was  executed  in  August   1553  for 


5o 


ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 


maintaining  the  claims  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  his 
daughter-in-law,  to  the  crown.  He  was  himself 
condemned  to  death  for  the  part  he  took  in  the 
attempt  of  his  father  to  place  Lady  Jane  upon  the 
throne ;    but  on   the   intercession   of  the   Lords 

of  the  Council  was 
pardoned  by  Queen 
Mary,  who  received 
him  into  favour,  and 
appointed  him  master 
of  the  English  ord- 
nance at  the  siege  of 
St.  Quentin,where  his 
brother  Henry  was 
killed.  On  the  ac- 
cession of  Elizabeth, 
Dudley  soon  became 
a  great  favourite  of 
the  Queen,  who  ad- 
vanced him  to  the 
highest  honours,  and, 
there  is  little  doubt,  at 
onetime  contemplated 
a  marriage  with  him.  Leicester  was  a  generous 
supporter  of  learning,  and  his  letters  show  that 
he  was  himself  possessed  of  considerable  literary 
ability.  Geoffrey  Whitney,  in  his  dedication  of 
his  Choice  of  Emblems  to  the  Earl,  mentions 
1  his  zeale  and  honourable  care  of  those  that  love 
good  letters,'  and   states  that  'divers,  who  are 


Book-Stamp  of  Lord  Leicester. 


EARL  OF  LEICESTER  51 

nowe  famous  men,  had  bin  through  povertie  longe 
since  discouraged  from  their  studies  if  they  had 
not  founde  your  honour  so  prone  to  bee  their 
patron.'  Little  is  known  respecting  Leicester's 
library,  which  must  have  been  a  large  and  fine 
one,  for  many  handsomely  bound  volumes  which 
once  belonged  to  it  are  found  both  in  public  and 
private  collections.  This  dispersion  of  his  books 
may  probably  be  accounted  for  by  the  sale  of  his 
goods  after  his  death,  as  mentioned  by  Camden 
in  his  Annals  of  the  Reign  of  Elizabeth  :  '  But 
whereas  he  was  in  the  Queen's  debt,  his  goods 
were  sold  at  a  public  Outcry:  for  the  Queen, 
though  in  other  things  she  were  favourable 
enough,  yet  seldom  or  never  did  she  remit  the 
debts  owing  to  her  Treasury.'  In  the  Notices  of 
London  Libraries,  by  John  Bagford  and  William 
Oldys,  it  is  stated  :  '  At  Lambeth  Palace  over  the 
Cloyster  is  a  well-furnished  library.  The  oldest 
of  the  books  were  Dudley's,  Earl  of  Leicester.' 
Not  more,  however,  than  nine  or  ten  which 
belonged  to  the  Earl  are  to  be  found  there  now. 
Almost  all  his  books  have  his  well-known  crest, 
the  bear  and  ragged  staff,  stamped  upon  the 
covers,  but  a  few  of  them  bear  his  arms  instead. 

Leicester  was  suddenly  seized  with  illness  on 
his  way  to  Kenilworth,  and  died  at  his  house  at 
Cornbury,  in  Oxfordshire,  on  the  4th  of  Sep- 
tember 1588.  The  suddenness  of  his  death  gave 
rise  to  a  suspicion  that  it  was  caused  by  poison  ; 


52  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

and  Ben  Jonson  tells  a  story  that  he  had  given 
his  wife  4  a  bottle  of  liquor  which  he  willed  her 
to  use  in  any  faintness,  which  she,  not  knowing 
it  was  poison,  gave  him,  and  so  he  died.'  He 
was  buried  at  Warwick. 


JOHN,  LORD  LUMLEY,  i534?-i6o9 

John,  Lord  Lumley,  was  born  in  or  about  the 
year  1534.  He  was  the  only  son  of  George 
Lumley  of  Twing,  in  the  county  of  Yorkshire, 
who  was  executed  in  1537  at  Tyburn,  for  high 
treason.  On  the  death  of  his  grandfather,  Lord 
Lumley,  in  1544,  John  succeeded  to  the  family 
estates,  and  in  1547  he  was  permitted  to  take 
the  title  of  Baron  Lumley.  He  matriculated  in 
May  1549,  as  a  fellow-commoner  of  Queens' 
College,  Cambridge,  and  was  also  educated  in 
the  court  of  King  Edward  vi.,  whose  funeral  he 
attended.  On  the  29th  of  September  1553  he  was 
created  a  Knight  of  the  Bath,  and,  two  days  later, 
was  present,  together  with  his  wife,  at  the  coro- 
nation of  Queen  Mary ; l  Lady  Lumley  riding  in 
the  third  chariot  with  five  other  baronesses. 

On  the  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  he,  with 
other  lords,  was  appointed  to  attend  her  Majesty 
on  her  journey  from  Hatfield  to  London.  In 
1559  his  father-in-law,  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  at 

1  Cooper,  Athena  Caniabrigiettses,  vol.  ii.  p.  517. 


LORD  LUMLEY 


53 


that  time  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, nominated  him  High  Steward  of  the 
University.  Lord  Lumley  was  sent  to  the 
Tower  in  1569  on  suspicion  of  being  implicated 
in    intrigues   to  bring    about  the    marriage    of 


Lord  Lumley,     From  the  Cheam  portrait  as  engraved  for  Sandford. 

his  brother-in-law  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  with 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and  to  re-establish  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion.  In  the  next  year  he 
was  released,  but  in  October  1571  he  was  again 
imprisoned,  and  he  did   not  obtain  his   liberty 


54  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

until  April  1573,  ten  months  after  the  execution 
of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk.  At  a  later  period  he 
appears  to  have  quite  regained  the  favour  of  the 
Queen,  for  we  read  that  she  accepted  as  a  New 
Year's  gift  from  him  in  1584  'a  cup  of  cristall 
graven  and  garnished  with  golde,'  and  that  at  the 
New  Year  1587  he  presented  to  her  'a  booke, 
wherein  are  divers  Psalmes  in  Lattin  written,  the 
boards  greate,  inclosed  all  over  on  the  outeside 
with  golde  enamuld  cut-worke,  with  divers  colours 
and  one  litle  claspe.'1  In  1580  Lord  Lumley 
lost  his  father-in-law,  who  by  a  deed,  dated 
March  14th,  1566,  had  conveyed  a  great  part  of 
his  estates  to  Lord  Lumley  and  Jane  his  eldest 
daughter,  Lord  Lumley's  wife ;  and  after  her 
decease,  Lord  Arundel  confirmed  the  same  to 
Lord  Lumley  by  his  will,  which  he  made  a  few 
months  before  his  death.  Among  the  estates 
bequeathed  were  the  palace  and  park  of  Nonsuch, 
which  in  1590  Lord  Lumley  conveyed  to  the 
Queen  in  exchange  for  lands  of  the  yearly  value 
of  five  hundred  and  thirty-four  pounds.  Lord 
Lumley  died  on  the  nth  of  April  1609  at  his 
residence  on  Tower  Hill,  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Olave,  Hart  Street,  and  was  buried  in  Cheam 
church,  in  the  county  of  Surrey,  where  a  monu- 
ment was  erected  to  his  memory  in  the  Lumley 
aisle,  which  he  had  built.  By  his  first  wife, 
Jane,  who  died  in  1577,  Lord  Lumley  had  three 

1  Cooper. 


LORD  LUMLEY  55 

children,  who  all  died  in  infancy.  He  had  no 
issue  by  his  second  wife,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
John,  Lord  Darcy  of  Chiche,  who  survived  him 
nine  years. 

Lord  Lumley,  Bishop  Hacket  says,  'did 
pursue  Recondite  Learning  as  much  as  any  of 
his  Honourable  Rank  in  those  Times,  and  was 
the  owner  of  a  most  precious  Library,  the  search 
and  collection  of  Mr.  Humfry  Llyd.' J  This  fine 
library,  which  to  a  great  extent  was  formed  by 
the  books  bequeathed  to  him  by  his  father-in-law 
in  1580,  contained  many  volumes  which  had 
evidently  been  once  the  property  of  Archbishop 
Cranmer,  as  they  bear  his  name,  which  is  some- 
times accompanied  by  the  signature  of  Lumley, 
and  in  other  instances  by  the  signatures  of  both 
Arundel  and  Lumley.  Lord  Lumley  also  col- 
lected a  number  of  portraits. 

Lord  Lumley  made  liberal  donations  of  books 
to  the  University  Library  of  Cambridge  and  the 
Bodleian  Library  during  his  lifetime,  and  also 
'  bestowed  many  excellent  Pieces  printed  and 
manuscript  upon  Mr.  Williams 2  for  alliance  sake.' 
After  his  death  in  1609  the  remainder  of  his 
library,  '  which  was  probably  more  valuable  than 
any  other  collection  then  existing  in  England, 
with  the  exception  of  that  of  Sir  Robert  Cotton,' 3 

1  Humphrey  Llwyd,  physician  and  antiquary,  Lord  Lumley's  brother- 
in-law. 

s  Afterwards  Archbishop  of  York,  a  relative  of  Lord  Lumley. 
3  Edwards,  Lives  of  the  Founders  of  the  British  Museum,  p.  162. 


56  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

was  purchased  by  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales.  At  the 
Prince's  decease  in  1612  the  books  went  to  augment 
the  old  royal  library  of  England,  which  was  given 
to  the  nation  in  1 757  by  King  George  11.  A  curious 
and  interesting  inventory  of  the  '  moveables ' 
found  at  Lumley  Castle  after  the  death  of  its 
owner  is  given  in  Surtees's  History  of  Durham, 
vol.  ii.  pp.  158-163.  The  goods  comprised 
pictures,  sculptures,  '  peeces  of  hangines  of  arras 
with  golde  of  the  Storie  of  Troye,  Quene  Hester, 
Cipio  and  Haniball,'  etc.,  hangings  of  'gilte 
leather,'  '  Beddes '  of  gold,  silver,  and  silk, 
splendid  chairs,  and  velvet  and  Turkey  carpets, 
and  were  valued  at  fourteen  hundred  and  four 
pounds,  seventeen  shillings  and  eightpence,  but 
no  mention  is  made  of  any  books.  Most  of  these 
treasures  were  sold  by  auction  at  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  Among  the  Royal  mss. 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum  is  a  transla- 
tion of  Erasmus's  Institutio  Principis  Christiani, 
signed  'Your  lordshippes  obedient  sone,  J. 
Lumley,  1550/  As  Lord  Lumley's  own  father 
was  put  to  death  in  1537,  this  was  evidently 
addressed  to  his  father-in-law,  who  has  written 
his  name  Arundel  on  the  first  page.  Lord 
Lumley  was  a  member  of  the  old  Society  of 
Antiquaries,  and  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Cald- 
well ■  he  founded  a  surgery  lecture  in  the  Royal 

1  Richard  Caldwell,  M.D.,  elected  President  of  the  Royal  College  of 
Physicians  in  1 570. 


LORD  LUMLEY  57 

College  of  Physicians,  endowing  it  with  forty 
pounds  per  annum. 

The  Lumley  family  was  one  of  considerable 
importance  and  antiquity,  and  an  amusing  ac- 
count is  given  by  Pennant 1  and  Hutchinson 2  of 
a  visit  paid  by  King  James  1.  to  Lumley  Castle 
on  the  13th  of  April  1603.  In  the  absence  of 
Lord  Lumley  the  King  was  received  by  Dr.  James, 
Dean  of  Durham, ■  who  expatiated  on  the  pedigree 
of  their  noble  host,  without  missing  a  single 
ancestor,  direct  or  collateral,  from  Liulph  to  Lord 
Lumley,  till  the  King,  wearied  with  the  eternal 
blazon,  interrupted  him,  "Oh  mon,  gang  na 
further ;  let  me  digest  the  knowledge  I  ha  gained, 
for  on  my  saul  I  did  na  ken  Adam's  name  was 
Lumley."' 

Lord  Lumley' s  first  wife  was  a  very  learned 
lady,  and  several  volumes  containing  the  exercises 
both  of  herself  and  her  sister,  the  Duchess  of 
Norfolk,  are  preserved  among  the  Royal  mss.  in 
the  British  Museum,  having  been  handed  down 
with  the  Lumley  books.  A  quarto  volume,3  upon 
the  first  leaf  of  which  is  written  '  The  doinge  of 
my  Lady  Lumley,  dowghter  to  my  L.  Therle  of 
Arundell,'  contains  Latin  translations  of  several 
of  the  Orations  of  Isocrates,  and  'The  Tragedie 
of  Euripides  called  Iphigeneia,  translated  out  of 

1  Pennant,  Tour  in  Scotland,  etc. 

2  Hutchinson,  History  of  County  of  Durham. 

3  Royal  MSS.,  15  A  ix. 

H 


58  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Greake  into  Englisshe.'  Among  the  royal  manu- 
scripts is  also  to  be  found  a  beautiful  little 
volume  of  fourteen  vellum  leaves,1  containing 
copies  of  moral  apophthegms,  in  Latin,  which  Sir 
Nicholas  Bacon  had  inscribed  on  the  walls  of  his 
house  at  Gorhambury.  On  the  first  page,  above 
the  arms  of  Lady  Lumley,  which  are  splendidly 
emblazoned,  is  written  in  gold  capitals,  '  Syr  • 
Nicholas  •  Bacon  •  Knyghte  •  to  •  his  •  very  •  good  • 
ladye  •  the  •  ladye  •  Lumley  •  sendeth  •  this,'  and 
on  the  second  page  this  title,  ■  Sentences  printed 
in  the  Lorde  Kepar's  Gallery  at  Gorhambury  : 
selected  by  him  out  of  divers  authors,  and  sent 
to  the  good  ladye  Lumley  at  her  desire.'  The 
sentences,  which  are  thirty-seven  in  number,  are 
inscribed  in  gold  capital  letters  upon  grounds  of 
various  colours. 

There  are  three  portraits  of  Lord  Lumley  at 
Lumley  Castle,  and  one  at  Arundel  Castle. 
A  fine  engraving  of  another  portrait,  which  was 
formerly  in  the  Lumley  aisle  at  Cheam,  is  in 
Stebbing's  edition  of  Sandford's  Genealogical 
History.  There  are  also  engravings  of  Lord 
Lumley  by  Fittler  and  Thane.  Lumley  Castle 
also  contains  a  portrait  of  Lady  Lumley,  inscribed 
'  Jane  Fitzalan,  daughter  to  Henry  Earle  of 
Arundele,  first  wife  to  John  Lord  Lumley.'2 

1  Royal  MSS.,  17  A  xxiii. 

2  Cooper. 


GEORGE  CAREW 


59 


GEORGE  CAREW,  EARL  OF  TOTNES, 
1 555- 1 629 

George  Carew,  Baron  Carew  of  Clopton  and 
Earl  of  Totnes,  was  born  in  1555.  He  was  the 
son  of  George  Carew,  Dean  of  Windsor,  by  his 


Book-Stamp  of  Earl  of  Totnes. 


wife  Anne,  daughter  of  Sir  Nicholas  Harvey.     In 
1564  he  was  sent  to  the  University  of  Oxford, 


60  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

which  he  left  in  1573,  and  in  the  following  year 
went  to  Ireland  and  entered  the  service  of  ln^ 
cousin  Sir  Peter  Carew,  who  was  then  engaged 
in  prosecuting  his  claims  to  his  Irish  property. 
Carew  held  various  posts  in  that  country,  and 
remained  there,  save  for  visits  to  England  and 
the  Low  Countries,  until  1592,  when  he  entered 
upon  his  duties  as  Lieutenant-General  of  the 
Ordnance,  to  which  office  he  had  been  appointed 
in  1 59 1.  He  took  part  in  the  expeditions  of 
Essex  to  Cadiz  in  1596,  and  to  the  Azores  in 
1597,  and  in  1599  returned  to  Ireland  as  Lord 
President  of  Munster,  a  post  he  held  until  1603. 
In  1605  he  was  made  Vice-Chamberlain  to  Queen 
Anne,  and  in  the  same  year  was  created  Baron 
Carew.  Three  years  later  he  was  made  Master 
of  the  Ordnance,  and  in  161 1  he  again  went  to 
Ireland  as  '  Sole  Commissioner  for  the  refor- 
mation of  the  army  and  improvement  of  his 
majesties  revenew.'  On  the  5th  of  February 
1626,  Carew,  who  had  been  knighted  in  1585, 
was  created  Earl  of  Totnes,  and  later  in  the 
year  received  the  appointment  of  '  Treasurer  and 
receaver-general  to  queene  Henriette  Marie.' 

He  died  at  London  on  the  27th  of  March 
1629,  and  was  buried  in  the  Church  of  Stratford- 
on-Avon,  where  a  monument  was  erected  to  his 
memory  by  his  widow,  a  daughter  of  William 
Clopton,  of  Clopton  House,  near  Stratford-on- 
Avon.     He  left  no  children  by  her. 


SIR  ROBERT  BRUCE  COTTON     61 

Carew,  who  was  much  attached  to  antiquarian 
pursuits,  maintained  a  large  correspondence  with 
Camden,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  Sir  Robert  Cotton, 
and  Sir  Thomas  Bodley,  and  many  of  his  letters 
have  been  printed  by  the  Camden  Society.  He 
bequeathed  his  books  and  manuscripts,  of  which 
he  had  acquired  a  considerable  number,  to  Sir 
Thomas  Stafford,  who  was  said  to  be  his  illegiti- 
mate son.  They  afterwards  became  the  property 
of  Archbishop  Laud,  who  placed  forty-two  of  the 
volumes  of  manuscripts,  which  principally  relate 
to  Irish  history  in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
in  the  Archiepiscopal  Library  at  Lambeth,  and 
four  in  the  Bodleian  Library.  Others  are  pre- 
served in  the  Department  of  mss.,  British  Museum, 
the  State  Paper  Office,  and  at  Hatfield. 


SIR  ROBERT  BRUCE  COTTON,  Bart., 
1571-1631 

Sir  Robert  Bruce  Cotton,  who  is  styled 
by  Sir  Symonds  D'Ewes  '  England's  Prime 
Antiquary,'  was  born  in  1571.  He  was  the 
eldest  son  of  Thomas  Cotton,  of  Connington, 
Huntingdonshire,  by  his  first  wife,  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Francis  Shirley  of  Staunton-Harold, 
Leicestershire.  He  received  his  early  education 
at  Westminster  School,  and  in  1581  matriculated 


62 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


at  Jesus  College,  Cambridge,  where  four  years 
later  he  took  the  degree  of  B.A.  At  a  very  early 
age  he    became  a  member  of   the    Elizabethan 


ni>   ~- 


Sir  Robert  Cotton.    From  an  engraving  by  R.  White. 

Society  of  Antiquaries,  which  met  for  many  years 
at  his  residence  in  Westminster,  near  Palace 
Yard.     It  was  in  this  house  that  he  formed  that 


SIR  ROBERT  BRUCE  COTTON     63 

magnificent  collection  of  manuscripts  and  other 
antiquities  which  now  ranks  as  one  of  the 
principal  treasures  of  the  British  Museum.  The 
dissolution  of  the  monasteries  in  the  reigns  of 
Henry  vm.  and  Edward  vi.  afforded  special 
facilities  to  Cotton  in  forming  the  collection  which 
comprises  such  valuable  manuscripts  as  the 
famous  Durham  Book  (a  copy  of  the  Gospels  in 
Latin,  written  and  illuminated  in  honour  of  St. 
Cuthbert  by  Eadfrith,  Bishop  of  Lindisfarne, 
between  the  years  698  and  720,  with  an  inter- 
linear translation  in  Northumbrian  Saxon),  and 
the  copy  of  the  Gospels  said  to  have  been  used 
to  administer  the  oath  at  the  coronation  of  King 
Athelstan.  Other  treasures  are  the  original  Bull 
of  Pope  Leo  x.  conferring  on  King  Henry  vm. 
the  title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith  ;  and  a  contem- 
porary and  official  copy  of  Magna  Charta,  granted 
by  King  John,  and  dated  at  Runnymede,  15th 
June,  in  the  seventeenth  year  of  his  reign,  which 
was  given  to  Cotton  by  Sir  Edward  Dering. 
Both  these  precious  documents  were  unfortun- 
ately damaged  by  the  fire  at  Ashburnham  House, 
but  have  since  been  very  skilfully  repaired. 
More  than  two  hundred  volumes  of  the  library 
consisted  of  letters  of  sovereigns  and  statesmen  ; 
but  Cotton  did  not  acquire  these  valuable  docu- 
ments without  creating  a  strong  feeling  that  such 
a  large  and  important  collection  of  official  papers 
should  rather  be  preserved  in  the  Record  Office 


64  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

than  left  in  the  possession  of  a  private  individual, 
and  his  library  was  twice  sequestrated  by  the 
Government.  On  the  first  occasion  his  books 
were  given  back  to  him ;  but  on  the  second, 
although  he  repeatedly  petitioned  the  King  for 
their  restoration,  he  died  before  his  applications 
were  answered.  His  death  took  place  at  his 
house  in  Westminster  on  the  6th  of  May  1631, 
and  he  was  buried  in  Connington  Church,  where 
a  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory.  Cotton 
was  knighted  on  the  accession  of  James  1.,  and 
was  also  one  of  the  baronets  created  by  that 
sovereign  in  161 1.  Sir  Robert  Cotton  gave 
directions  in  his  will  that  his  library  should  not 
be  sold,  and  bequeathed  it  to  his  son,  Sir  Thomas 
Cotton,  who  on  the  decease  of  his  father  made 
great  efforts  to  obtain  its  restoration,  which  were 
ultimately  successful.  He  died  in  1662,  leaving 
the  collection  to  his  son,  Sir  John  Cotton,  who, 
having  declined  an  offer  for  it  of  sixty  thousand 
pounds  from  Louis  xiv.  in  1700,  expressed  his 
intention  of  practically  giving  it  to  the  nation  ; 
and  in  the  same  year  an  Act  was  passed,  enacting 
that  on  the  death  of  Sir  John  (he  died  in  1702), 
Cotton  House,  together  with  the  collection,  should 
be  vested  in  trustees,  but  at  the  same  time  con- 
tinue in  his  family  and  name,  and  not  be  sold  or 
otherwise  disposed  of.  It  was  further  ordered 
that  the  library  should  be  kept  and  preserved 
for  public  use  and  advantage,  and  that  a  room 


SIR  ROBERT  BRUCE  COTTON     65 

should  be  provided  for  it,  with  'a  convenient 
way,  passage,  and  resort  to  the  same,  at  the 
will  and  discretion  of  the  heirs  of  the  family.' 
Obstacles,  however,  occurred  in  carrying  out 
these  directions,  principally  on  account  of  the 
difficulty  of  access  to  the  library,  and  the  unsuit- 
ableness  of  the  room  in  which  it  was  deposited, 
it  being  described  as  'a  narrow  little  room,  damp, 
and  improper  for  preserving  the  books  and 
papers.'  An  agreement  was  therefore  made,  by 
virtue  of  an  Act  of  Parliament  (5  Anne, 
cap.  30),  with  Sir  John  Cotton,  grandson  of 
the  Sir  John  Cotton  who  died  in  1702,  for  the 
purchase  of  the  inheritance  of  the  house  where 
the  library  was  deposited  for  the  sum  of  four 
thousand  five  hundred  pounds ;  and  it  was 
further  provided  that  the  library  should  continue 
to  be  settled  in  trustees,  and  a  convenient  room 
built  in  part  of  the  grounds  for  its  accommo- 
dation. This,  however,  was  not  done,  and  the 
dilapidated  condition  of  Cotton  House  soon 
necessitated  the  removal  of  the  collection,  which 
was  taken  to  Essex  House,  Essex  Street,  Strand, 
where  it  remained  until  1730,  when  it  was  con- 
veyed to  Ashburnham  House  in  Little  Dean's 
Yard,  Westminster,  which  was  purchased  by  the 
Crown  to  receive  it,  together  with  the  royal  mss. 
Here,  on  the  23rd  of  October  1731,  the  disastrous 
fire  broke  out  in  which  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
manuscripts  were  burnt,  lost,  or  entirely  spoiled, 

1 


66  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

and  ninety-eight  damaged,  but  many  of  these 
have  been  cleverly  restored.  Those  which  were 
saved  were  placed  in  a  new  building  designed 
for  the  dormitory  of  Westminster  School,  where 
they  remained  until  they  were  transferred  to  the 
British  Museum  in  1757,  having  been  included 
in  the  Act  under  which  the  Museum  was  founded 

»n  1753. 

The  Cottonian  Collection  originally  consisted 
of  958  volumes.  A  catalogue  of  it  was  compiled 
by  Dr.  Thomas  Smith  in  1696,  and  a  more  ample 
one  by  Mr.  Joseph  Planta,  Principal  Librarian  of 
the  British  Museum,  in  1802. 

'Omnis  ab  illo 
Et  Camdene  tua,  et  Seldeni  gloria  crevit.' ■ 


WILLIAM  LAUD,  ARCHBISHOP  OF 
CANTERBURY,   1573-1645 

William  Laud,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
whose  eventful  history  is  well  known,  was  born 
at  Reading  on  the  7th  of  October  1573.  He  was 
the  son  of  a  clothier  of  that  town,  and  was 
first  educated  in  the  free  grammar  school  of  his 
native  place,  and  afterwards  proceeded  to  St. 
John's  College,  Oxford,  where  he  successively 
obtained  a  scholarship  and  a  fellowship,  and  in 

1  Preface  to  Weaver's  Funeral  Monuments. 


ARCHBISHOP  LAUD  67 

161 1  became  President  of  the  College.  In 
161 6  James  1.  conferred  on  him  the  Deanery  of 
Gloucester,  on  the  22nd  of  January  1621  he  was 
installed  as  a  prebendary  of  Westminster,  and 
on  the  29th  of  June  in  the  same  year  he  obtained 
the  See  of  St.  David's.  On  the  accession  of 
Charles  1.  to  the  throne  Laud's  influence  became 
very  great,  and  in  1626  he  was  made  Bishop  of 
Bath  and  Wells,  and  two  years  later  Bishop  of 
London.  In  1630  he  was  elected  Chancellor  of 
the  University  of  Oxford,  and  in  1633  ne  was 
appointed  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Shortly 
after  the  meeting  of  the  Long  Parliament  in 
1640  Laud  was  impeached  of  treason  by  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  committed  to  the 
Tower.  After  an  imprisonment  of  three  years  he 
was  brought  to  trial  before  the  Lords,  but  as  they 
showed  an  inclination  to  acquit  him,  the  Commons 
passed  an  ordinance  of  attainder,  declaring  him 
guilty  of  treason,  to  which  they  compelled  the 
Peers  to  assent,  and  on  the  10th  of  January 
1645  ne  was  brought  to  the  scaffold  on  Tower 
Hill.  His  body  was  interred  in  the  chancel  of 
All  Hallows,  Barking,  where  it  remained  until 
1663,  when  it  was  removed  to  the  Chapel  of  St. 
John's  College,  Oxford. 

Archbishop  Laud  was  an  ardent  collector  of 
books,  especially  of  manuscripts,  but  Wood  in  his 
A  thence  Oxonienses  says  he  was  'such  a  liberal 
benefactor  towards  the  advancement  of  learning 


68  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

that  he  left  himself  little  or  nothing  for  his 
own  use.'  The  Bodleian  Library  is  indebted  to 
him  for  a  large  portion  of  its  choicest  treasures, 
especially  of  Oriental  literature.  Between  the 
years  1635  and  1640  he  enriched  the  Library  with 
repeated  gifts  of  valuable  manuscripts.  In  1635 
he  presented  four  hundred  and  sixty-two  volumes 
and  five  rolls.  Among  these  were  forty-six  Latin 
manuscripts,  4e  Collegio  Herbipolensi  [Wiirz- 
burg]  in  Germania  sumpti,  a.d.  1631,  cum  Sue- 
corum  Regis  exercitus  per  universam  fere 
Germaniam  grassarentur.'  This  gift  was  followed, 
in  1636,  by  another  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty-one  manuscripts.  In  the  next  year 
five  hundred  and  fifty-five  additional  manu- 
scripts were  given  by  him  to  the  Library, 
and  in  1640  eighty-one  more.  This  splendid 
donation  of  nearly  thirteen  hundred  manuscripts 
comprised  works  in  Oriental  and  many  other 
languages ;  a  large  number  of  them  being  of 
exceptional  value  and  interest.  Among  them  was 
a  manuscript  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in 
Greek  and  Latin,  of  the  end  of  the  seventh 
century,  which  is  believed  to  have  been  once  in 
the  possession  of  the  Venerable  Bede.  Other 
notable  manuscripts  were  an  Irish  vellum  manu- 
script containing  the  Psalter  of  Cashel,  Cormac's 
Glossary,  Poems  attributed  to  St.  Columb-Kill  and 
St.  Patrick,  etc.,  and  a  copy  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle \   which  ends   at   the    year    1154,    and 


ARCHBISHOP  LAUD  69 

appears  to  have  been  written  in,  and  to  have 
formerly  been  the  property  of,  the  Abbey  of 
Peterborough.  In  addition  to  the  manuscripts, 
the  Archbishop  presented  the  Library  with 
a  collection  of  coins,  and  other  antiquities 
and  curiosities.1  Archbishop  Laud  was  also 
a  great  benefactor  to  his  own  college,  St. 
John's.  Sir  Kenelm  Digby  in  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Gerard  Langbaine,  dated  Gothurst,  November 
7th,  1654,  writes:  'As  I  was  one  day  waiting 
on  the  late  King,  my  master,  I  told  him  of 
a  collection  of  choice  Arabic  Manuscripts  I 
was  sending  after  my  Latin  ones  to  the  Uni- 
versity. My  Lord  of  Canterbury  [Laud]  that 
was  present,  wished  that  they  might  go  along 
with  a  parcel  that  he  was  sending  to  St.  John's 
College :  whereupon  I  sent  them  to  his  Grace,  as 
Chancellor  of  the  University,  beseeching  him  to 
present  them  in  my  name  to  the  same  place 
where  he  sent  his.  They  were  in  two  trunks 
(made  exactly  fit  for  them)  that  had  the  first 
letters  of  my  christian  and  sirname  decyphered 
upon  them  with  nails ;  and  on  the  first  page  of 
every  book  was  my  ordinary  motto  and  name 
written  at  length  in  my  own  hand.  The  troubles 
of  the  times  soon  followed  my  sending  these 
trunks  of  books  to  Lambeth-house,  and  I  was 
banished  out  of  the  land,  and  returned  not  until 

1   Macray,  Annals  of  the  Bodleian  Library,  pp.  61-65. 


70         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

my  lord  was  dead  ;  so  that  I  never  more  heard 
of  them.*1 

Some  curious  entries  in  the  Journals  of  the 
House  of  Commons  show  that  the  books  which 
the  Archbishop  retained  for  his  own  use  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Hugh  Peters,  the  regicide. 

1  A0.  1643-4,  March  8.  Ordered,  That  a  Study 
of  books  to  the  value  of  one  hundred  pounds  out 
of  such  books  as  are  sequestered,  be  forthwith 
bestowed  upon  Mr.  Peters.' 

'  A°.  1644,  25  April.  Whereas  this  House  was 
formerly  pleased  to  bestow  upon  Mr.  Peters, 
Books  to  the  Value  of  an  Hundred  Pounds,  it  is 
this  day  ordered,  that  Mr.  Recorder,  Mr.  Whit- 
lock  and  Mr.  Hill,  or  any  Two  of  them,  do  cause 
to  be  delivered  unto  Mr.  Peters  Books  of  the 
Value  of  an  Hundred  Pounds,  out  of  the  particular 
and  private  study  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, and  out  of  the  Books  belonging  to  the 
said  Archbishop,  in  his  own  particular.' 

1  A°.  1644,  27  Junij.  Whereas  formerly  Books 
to  the  Value  of  an  Hundred  Pounds  were  be- 
stowed upon  Mr.  Peters,  out  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury's  particular  private  Study :  And 
whereas  the  said  Study  is  appraised  at  a  matter 
of  Forty  Pounds  more  than  the  said  Hundred 
Pounds ;  It  is  this  day  ordered,  That  Mr.  Peters 
shall  have  the  whole  Study  of  Books  freely  be- 
stowed upon  him.' 

1  Walker,  Letters  by  Eminent  Persons.     London,  1 813. 


ARCHBISHOP  LAUD  71 

These  books,  however,  appear  to  have  been 
recovered  after  the  Restoration,  for  we  find  an 
entry  in  the  Journals  of  the  date  of  May  16, 
1660,  ordering  '  That  it  be  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee to  whom  the  Business  of  Secretary  Thurloe 
is  referred,  to  take  Order,  that  all  the  Books  and 
Papers,  heretofore  belonging  to  the  Library  of  the 
late  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  now,  or  lately, 
in  the  Hands  of  Mr.  Hugh  Peters,  be  forthwith 
secured.' 

In  addition  to  his  other  benefactions  to  the 
University  of  Oxford,  Archbishop  Laud  founded 
in  that  university  a  Professorship  of  Arabic,  and 
endowed  it  with  lands  in  the  parish  of  Bray,  in 
the  county  of  Berks. 

The  works  written  by  Laud  are  but  few  in 
number.  They  are  Officium  Quotidianum,  or  a 
Manual  of  Private  Devotions ;  A  Summary  of 
Devotions ;  his  Diary ;  and  A  History  of  his 
Troubles  and  Try  at ;  together  with  some  smaller 
pieces,  sermons,  and  speeches.  A  Relation  of 
the  Conference  between  him  and  Fisher  the 
fesuit,  by  Laud's  chaplain  John  Baily,  was 
printed  in  1624.  A  collected  edition  of  his 
works,  edited  by  Henry  Wharton,  was  printed 
in  1 695- 1 700,  and  a  second  one  in  the  Library 
of  Anglo-Catholic  Theology,  in  six  volumes  in 
1847-49. 

Portraits  of  him  are  to  be  found  in  St.  John's 
College,    Oxford,   and   at   Lambeth   Palace.      A 


72  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

copy  of  the  last  portrait,  by  Henry  Stone,  is  in 
the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


ROBERT  BURTON,   1576-1640 

Robert  Burton,  the  author  of  The  Anatomy  of 
Melancholy,  who  is  numbered  by  Dibdin  'among 
the  most  marked  bibliomaniacs  of  the  age,'  was 
the  second  son  of  Ralph  Burton  of  Lindley  in 
the  county  of  Leicester,  and  was  born  on  the 
8th  of  February  1576.  He  received  the  early 
part  of  his  education  at  the  grammar  schools  of 
Nuneaton  and  Sutton  Coldfield.  In  1593  he 
was  admitted  a  commoner  at  Brasenose  College, 
Oxford,  and  in  1599  was  elected  a  student  of 
Christ  Church.  He  took  the  degree  of  B.D.  in 
1614.  The  last-named  college  presented  him 
with  the  vicarage  of  St.  Thomas,  in  the  west 
suburb  of  Oxford,  in  16 16,  and  some  years  later 
George,  Lord  Berkeley,  gave  him  the  rectory  of 
Segrave  in  Leicestershire.  The  first  edition  of 
his  famous  work,  The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy \ 
appeared  in  1621.  Burton,  about  whose  life  little 
is  known,  died  in  his  chamber  at  Christ's  Church 
on  the  25th  of  January  1639-40,  '  at,  or  very  near 
that  time,'  Anthony  a  Wood  writes,  'which  he 
had  some  years  before  foretold  from  the  calcula- 
tion of  his  own  nativity.  Which  being  exact, 
several  of  the  students  did  not  forbear  to  whisper 


ROBERT  BURTON  73 

among  themselves,  that  rather  than  there  should 
be  a  mistake  in  the  calculation,  he  sent  up  his 
soul  to  heaven  thro'  a  slip  about  his  neck.'  Wood 
adds  that  he  was  buried  in  the  north  aisle  of 
Christ  Church  Cathedral,  and  over  his  grave  '  was 
erected  a  comely  monument  on  the  upper  pillar  of 
the  said  isle  with  his  bust  painted  to  the  life :  on 
the  right  hand  of  which,  is  the  calculation  of  his 
nativity,  and  under  the  bust  this  inscription  made 
by  himself;  all  put  up  by  the  care  of  William 
Burton,  his  brother. 

1  Paucis  notus,  paucioribus  ignotus,  hie  jacet 
Democritus  junior,  cui  vitam  dedit  &  mortem 
Melancholia.     Obiit  viii.  Id.  Jan.  A.C.  mdcxxxix.' 

Burton's  monument  and  bust  have  been  en- 
graved for  Nichols's  History  and  Antiquities  of 
Leicestershire,  and  his  portrait  hangs  in  the  hall 
of  Brasenose  College. 

Wood  gives  the  following  character  of  Bur- 
ton : — '  He  was  an  exact  mathematician,  a  curious 
calculator  of  nativities,  a  general-read  scholar,  a 
thorough-paced  philologist,  and  one  that  under- 
stood the  surveying  of  lands  well.  As  he  was  by 
many  accounted  a  severe  student,  a  devourer  of 
authors,  a  melancholy  and  humourous  person, 
so  by  others  who  knew  him  well,  a  person  of 
great  honesty,  plain  dealing  and  charity.  I  have 
heard  some  of  the  ancients  of  Christchurch  often 
say  that  his  company  was  very  merry,  facete  and 
juvenile;   and  no  man  in  his  time  did  surpass 


74  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

him  for  his  ready  and  dexterous  interlarding  his 
common  discourses  among  them  with  verses  from 
the  poets,  or  sentences  from  classical  authoi 
which,   being  then   all   the  fashion  in  the   uni- 
versity, made  his  company  more  acceptable.' 

Burton  left  behind  him  a  large  and  curious 
collection  of  books,  the  nature  of  which  he  well 
describes  in  his  Address  to  the  Reader  of  his 
Anatomy  of  Melancholy :  '  I  hear  new  news  every 
day,  and  those  ordinary  rumours  of  war,  plagues, 
fires,  inundations,  thefts,  murders,  massacres, 
meteors,  comets,  spectrums,  prodigies, apparitions, 
of  towns  taken,  cities  besieged  in  France,  Ger- 
many, Turkey,  Persia,  Poland,  etc.,  daily  musters 
and  preparations,  and  such  like,  which  these 
tempestuous  times  afford,  battles  fought,  so  many 
men  slain,  monomachies,  shipwrecks,  piracies,  and 
sea-fights ;  peace,  leagues,  stratagems,  and  fresh 
alarms.  .  .  .  New  books  every  day,  pamphlets, 
currantoes,  stories,  whole  catalogues  of  volumes 
of  all  sorts.  .  .  .  Now  come  tidings  of  weddings, 
maskings,  mummeries,  entertainments,  jubilies, 
embassies,  tilts  and  tournaments,  trophies,  tri- 
umphs, revels,  sports,  plays :  then  again,  as  in  a 
new  shifted  scene,  treasons,  cheating  tricks,  rob- 
beries, enormous  villanies  in  all  kinds,  funerals, 
burials,  deaths  of  princes,  new  discoveries,  ex- 
peditions, now  comical,  then  tragical  matters.' 
He  appears  to  have  purchased  indiscriminately 
almost  everything  that  was  published. 


ROBERT  BURTON  75 

In  his  will,  dated  August  15th,  1639,  ne  gives 
directions  for  the  disposal  of  his  books  : — 

1  Now  for  my  goods  I  thus  dispose  them. 
First  I  give  an  Cth  pounds  to  Christ  Church  in 
Oxford  where  I  have  so  long  lived  to  buy  five 
pounds  Lands  per  Ann.  to  be  Yearly  bestowed  on 
Books  for  the  Library.  Item  I  give  an  hundreth 
pound  to  the  University  Library  of  Oxford  to  be 
bestowed  to  purchase  five  pound  Land  per  Ann. 
to  be  paid  out  Yearly  on  Books.  ...  If  I  have 
any  Books  the  University  Library  hath  not,  let 
them  take  them.  If  I  have  any  Books  our  own 
Library  hath  not,  let  them  take  them.'  After 
bequeathing  books  to  various  friends,  he  directs, 
1  If  any  books  be  left  let  my  Executors  dispose 
of  them  with  all  such  books  as  are  written  with 
my  own  hands  and  half  my  Melancholy  Copy  for 
Crips  hath  the  other  half.  To  Mr.  Jones  Chaplin 
and  Chanter  my  Surveying  Books  and  Instru- 
ments.' 

In  addition  to  The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy, 
Burton  wrote  a  Latin  comedy,  entitled  Philoso- 
phaster,  which  was  acted  at  Christ  Church  on 
Shrove  Monday,  February  the  16th,  1618,  and 
which  was  first  printed  in  1862  for  the  Roxburghe 
Club  at  the  expense  of  the  late  Rev.W.  E.  Buckley, 
of  Middleton  Chaney,  the  possessor  of  one  of  two 
manuscripts  of  it  which  have  been  preserved. 


76  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

JAMES  USHER,  ARCHBISHOP  OF 
ARMAGH,   1581-1656 

JAMBS  Usher  or  Ussher,  Archbishop  of 
Armagh,  was  born  in  Dublin  on  the  4th  of 
January  1581.  He  was  the  second,  but  elder 
surviving  son  of  Arland  Usher,  one  of  the  six- 
clerks  of  the  Irish  Court  of  Chancery.  His 
mother  was  a  daughter  of  James  Stanyhurst, 
Recorder  of  the  City  of  Dublin,  who  was  thrice 
elected  Speaker  of  the  Irish  House  of  Commons. 
Usher  is  said  to  have  been  taught  to  read  by 
two  aunts  who  had  been  blind  from  their  infancy. 
At  the  age  of  eight  he  was  sent  to  a  school  in 
Dublin  conducted  by  Mr.  James  Fullerton  and 
Mr.  James  Hamilton,  two  secret  political  agents 
of  King  James  of  Scotland,  who  were  after- 
wards made  Sir  James  Fullerton  and  Viscount 
Clandeboye.  In  1594  he  proceeded  to  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  being  the  second  scholar  ad- 
mitted in  the  newly  opened  University,  of  which 
he  was  made  a  Fellow  in  1599.  On  the  20th  of 
December  1601  he  was  ordained  by  his  uncle, 
the  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  having  first  made 
over  his  paternal  inheritance  to  his  younger 
brother  and  his  sisters,  reserving  only  a  small 
portion  for  his  support  during  his  studies.  On 
the  24th  of  the  same  month  the  Spaniards  were 
defeated  at  the  battle  of  Kinsale  by  the  English 


Archbishop  Usher. 


ARCHBISHOP  USHER  77 

and  Irish,  and  the  officers  of  the  English  army 
determined  to  commemorate  their  success  by 
founding  a  library  in  the  College  at  Dublin. 
They  collected  among  themselves  about  eighteen 
hundred  pounds  for  this  purpose,1  and  Usher, 
in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Luke  Challoner,  was 
requested  to  select  the  books.  For  this  object, 
in  1602,  he  paid  a  visit  to  England,  where  he 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Sir  Thomas  Bodley, 
Sir  Robert  Cotton,  Camden,  and  other  dis- 
tinguished persons.  In  1606  he  again  made  a 
journey  to  England,  this  time  to  buy  books  for 
his  own  library,  as  well  as  for  that  of  his  college,2 
and  for  some  time  he  repeated  his  visits  every 
three  or  four  years.  In  1607  he  was  made  Pro- 
fessor of  Divinity  in  Trinity  College,  which  office 
he  held  for  thirteen  years.  He  was  consecrated 
Bishop  of  Meath  and  Clonmacnoise  in  1621,  and 
four  years  later  he  was  raised  to  the  Archbishopric 
of  Armagh  and  the  Primacy  of  the  Irish  Church. 
Usher  came  to  England  on  a  visit  in  1640,  but 
he  never  returned  to  his  native  country,  for  in 
the  next  year  his  residence  at  Armagh  was 
attacked  and  plundered  by  the  rebels,  and  he 
lost  everything  he  possessed  except  his  library, 
and  some  furniture  in  his  house  at  Drogheda. 

1  Life  of  Usher,  by  Dr.  C  R.  Elrington,  prefixed  to  Usher's  works, 
vol.  i.  p.  23.    Dublin,  1847. 

2  A  list  of  these  books,  with  the  prices  annexed  to  several,  is  still  extant 
in  Usher's  handwriting,  and  preserved  among  the  MSS.  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin.     Ibid.,  p.  25. 


78  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

In  consequence  of  the  unsettled  state  of  the 
country  it  was  thought  useless  for  him  to  return 
to  his  see,  and  the  king  therefore  bestowed  on 
him  the  bishopric  of  Carlisle,  to  be  held  *>/  coni- 
mendam.  For  some  time  he  resided  in  Oxford, 
but  that  city  being  threatened  with  a  siege  by 
the  Parliamentary  forces,  in  1645  ne  proceeded 
to  Cardiff,  of  which  town  Sir  Timothy  Tyrrell, 
who  had  married  his  only  child,  was  governor. 
Some  months  later,  when  Tyrrell  was  obliged  to 
give  up  his  command,  Usher  accepted  an  invita- 
tion from  Mary,  widow  of  Sir  Edward  Stradling, 
to  take  up  his  abode  at  her  residence,  St.  Donat  s 
Castle,  Glamorganshire.  On  his  way  thither,  in 
company  with  his  daughter,  he  unluckily  fell  into 
the  hands  of  a  party  of  Welsh  insurgents,  who 
plundered  him  of  all  his  books  and  papers,  but 
these  were  afterwards  to  a  great  extent  recovered 
by  the  exertions  of  the  clergy  and  gentry  of  the 
country.  In  1646  Usher  came  to  London,  and 
found  a  home  in  the  house  of  his  friend  the 
Dowager  Countess  of  Peterborough,  which  was 
situated  in  St.  Martin's  Lane,  'just  over  against 
Charing  Cross.'  From  the  roof  of  the  building 
he  witnessed  the  preliminaries  of  the  execution 
of  Charles  1.,  but  he  nearly  fainted  when  'the 
villains  in  vizards  began  to  put  up  the  king's 
hair,'  and  had  to  be  removed.  Usher  was  ap- 
pointed Preacher  to  the  Society  of  Lincoln's  Inn 
in    1647,   and   f°r   nearly  eight    years   preached 


ARCHBISHOP  USHER  79 

regularly  during  term-time  in  the  chapel.  He 
had  a  suite  of  furnished  apartments  provided 
for  him  in  the  Inn,  'with  divers  rooms  for  his 
library.'  He  retired  in  1656  to  Lady  Peter- 
borough's house  at  Reigate  in  Surrey,  and  died 
there  on  the  21st  of  March  in  that  year.  On 
the  21st  of  the  following  month  he  was  buried 
in  Westminster  Abbey;  a  public  funeral  being 
given  him  by  order  of  Cromwell,  who  is  said, 
however,  to  have  left  the  relations  of  the  deceased 
prelate  to  pay  the  greater  part  of  the  expense. 
Usher  formed  a  large  and  valuable  library  of 
nearly  ten  thousand  volumes,  which  cost  him 
many  thousand  pounds.  Dr.  Richard  Parr,  his 
biographer,  states  that  'after  he  became  arch- 
bishop he  laid  out  a  great  deal  of  money  in 
books,  laying  aside  every  year  a  considerable 
sum  for  that  end,  and  especially  for  the  procuring 
of  manuscripts,  as  well  as  from  foreign  parts,  as 
near  at  hand.'  His  library  contained  a  number 
of  rare  Oriental  manuscripts,  which  he  obtained 
through  the  instrumentality  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Davis,  a  merchant  at  Aleppo.  Among  them  were 
a  copy  of  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  a  Syrian 
Pentateuch,  and  a  Commentary  on  a  great  part 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  From  the 
Samaritan  Pentateuch  Usher  furnished  some 
extracts  for  his  friend  Selden's  Marmora  Arun- 
deliana,  and  he  deposited  the  manuscript  itself 
in  the  Cottonian  Library.    Dr.  Walton  also  found 


80  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Usher's  collection  of  much  use  in  preparing  his 
Polyglot  Bible.  Several  of  the  manuscripts 
which  had  belonged  to  Usher  were  given  to  the 
Bodleian  Library  by  James  Tyrrell,  the  historian, 
who  was  the  Archbishop's  grandson.  It  was 
Usher's  intention  to  have  left  his  library  to 
Trinity  College,  but  having  lost  all  his  other 
property  he  thought  it  right  to  bequeath  it  to 
his  daughter,  Lady  Tyrrell,  who  had  a  large 
family.  After  his  death  it  was  offered  for  sale, 
and  the  King  of  Denmark  and  Cardinal  Mazarin 
were  both  anxious  to  acquire  it ;  but  Cromwell, 
considering  it  disgraceful  to  his  administration 
to  allow  such  a  splendid  collection  of  books  to 
be  sent  out  of  the  kingdom,  prohibited  the  dis- 
posal of  it  without  his  consent,  and  it  was 
purchased  for  the  sum  of  two  thousand  two 
hundred  pounds,  the  money  being  principally 
contributed  by  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the 
army  in  Ireland.  It  is  said  that  the  amount 
paid  for  it  was  much  less  than  what  had  been 
previously  offered.  The  books  were  sent  to 
Dublin  and  placed  in  the  Castle,  with  a  view  that 
they  should  form  the  library  of  a  new  College 
or  Hall  then  projected.  They  remained  in  the 
Castle  until  the  Restoration,  when  Charles  il, 
in  accordance  with  Usher's  first  intention,  gave 
them  to  Trinity  College,  where  they  are  still 
preserved.  Usher,  who  is  said  by  Selden  to 
have  been  'ad  miraculum  doctus,'  was  the  author 


sSr* 


Archbishop  Williams. 


ARCHBISHOP  WILLIAMS  81 

of  many  works,  some  of  the  more  important 
being  Immanuel,  or  the  Mystery  of  the  Incar- 
nation of  the  Son  of  God  (Dublin,  1638),  4to ; 
Britannicarum  Ecclesiarmn  Antiquitates  et 
Primordia  (Dublin,  1639),  4*°  5  Annates  Veteris 
et  Novi  Testamenti  (London,  1650-54),  folio1 ;  De 
Grceca  Septuaginta  Interpretum  Versione  Syn- 
tagma (London,  1654),  4to ;  and  Chronologia 
Sacra  (London,  1660),  4to.  A  complete  edition 
of  the  Archbishop's  works,  in  seventeen  octavo 
volumes,  partly  edited  by  Dr.  C.  R.  Elrington, 
and  partly  by  Dr.  J.  H.  Todd,  with  an  index 
volume  by  Dr.  W.  Reeves,  was  published  in 
Dublin  in  1847-64. 


JOHN  WILLIAMS,  ARCHBISHOP  OF 
YORK,  1582-1650 

John  Williams,  Lord  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal 
and  Archbishop  of  York,  was  the  son  of  Edmund 
Williams  of  Aber-Conway,  Caernarvonshire,  at 
which  place  he  was  born  on  the  25th  of  March 
1582.  He  was  first  educated  at  the  public  school 
at  Ruthin,  and  later  at  St.  John's  College,  Cam- 
bridge, where  he  was  sent  when  sixteen  years  of 
age.     While  at  the  university  he  appears  to  have 

1  The  chronology  given  in  this  work  is  still  the  standard  adopted  in 
editions  of  the  English  Bible. 

L 


82  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

indulged  in  a  somewhat  reckless  expenditure,  and 
Bishop  Hacket,  who  wrote  his  biography,  informs 
us  that  '  from  a  youth  and  so  upward  he  had  not 
a  fist  to  hold  money,  for  he  did  not  lay  out,  but 
scatter,  spending  all  that  he  had,  and  somewhat 
for  which  he  could  be  trusted.'  He  was,  however, 
by  no  means  neglectful  of  his  studies,  for  we  are 
told  by  Lloyd  in  his  State  IVorthies,  '  that  un- 
wearied was  his  industry,  unexpressible  his 
capacity :  He  never  saw  the  book  of  worth  he 
read  not ;  he  never  forgot  what  he  read  ;  he  never 
lost  the  use  of  what  he  remembred  :  Everything 
he  heard  or  saw  was  his  own ;  and  what  was  his 
own  he  knew  how  to  use  to  the  utmost.'  From 
the  time  of  Williams's  ordination  in  1609,  his 
career  until  the  accession  of  Charles  1.  was  a 
remarkably  rapid  and  successful  one.  After 
holding  one  or  two  livings,  he  was  appointed 
Chaplain  to  the  King  and  Sub-Dean  of  Salisbury, 
and  in  1620  Dean  of  Westminster.  On  the  fall  of 
Bacon,  in  July  1621,  in  whose  ruin  he  had  taken 
a  large  share,  he  was  sworn  in  as  Lord  Keeper. 
Lloyd  observes  with  reference  to  the  manner  in 
which  he  fulfilled  the  duties  of  this  post,  that 
1  the  lawyers  despised  him  at  first,  but  the  judges 
admired  him  at  last.'  Williams  was  also  made 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  allowed  to  retain  the 
deanery  of  Westminster  and  the  rectory  of  Wal- 
grave ;  in  fact  the  number  of  preferments  he  held 
was  so  large  that  Dr.  Heylyn  remarks  that  '  he 


ARCHBISHOP  WILLIAMS  83 

was  a  perfect  diocese  within  himself,  as  being 
bishop,  dean,  prebend,  residentiary,  and  parson, 
all  at  once.'  Williams  held  the  post  of  Lord 
Keeper  until  1626,  when  he  was  deprived  of  his 
office,  and  various  charges,  including  one  of 
betraying  the  King's  secrets,  were  brought 
against  him  by  Archbishop  Laud,  his  great 
enemy.  He  was  found  guilty  of  subornation 
of  perjury  in  defending  himself  from  these 
charges,  suspended  from  all  his  dignities  and 
appointments,  condemned  to  suffer  imprisonment 
during  the  pleasure  of  the  King,  and  fined  ten 
thousand  pounds.  Lloyd  says  'he  suffered  for 
conniving  at  Puritans,  out  of  hatred  to  Bishop 
Laud ;  and  for  favouring  Papists,  out  of  love  to 
them.'  At  the  meeting  of  the  Long  Parliament 
Williams  was  released,  and  having  been  again 
received  into  favour  at  court,  he  was  translated 
in  1 64 1  to  the  Archbishopric  of  York.  During 
the  Civil  War  he  retired  to  his  estate  at  Aber- 
Conway,  and  for  some  time  held  Conway  Castle 
for  the  King.  He  died  of  a  quinsy  on  the  25th 
of  March  1650,  and  was  interred  in  Llandegay 
church,  where  a  monument  was  erected  to  his 
memory  by  his  nephew  and  heir  Sir  Griffyth 
Williams. 

Archbishop  Williams  was  a  generous  patron  of 
learning,  and  Lloyd  states  that  '  his  pensions  to 
Scholars  were  more  numerous  than  all  the 
Bishops  and  Noble-mens  besides ' ;  and  that  he 


84  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

imposed  '  Rent-charges  on  all  the  Benefices  in  his 
Gift  as  Lord  Keeper,  or  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  to 
maintain  hopeful  youth.  He  formed  a  library  in 
his  palace  at  Buckden  in  Huntingdonshire,  which 
was  dispersed  or  destroyed  during  his  imprison- 
ment,1 but  upon  his  release  he  collected  another, 
which  he  bequeathed  to  St.  John's  College, 
Cambridge,  having  previously  given  upwards  of 
two  thousand  pounds  to  the  college  for  the  pur- 
pose of  building  a  new  library ;  and  in  Bagford 
and  Oldys's  London  Libraries  we  find  an  account 
of  the  books  which  he  gave  to  the  library  of 
Westminster  Abbey.  '  In  the  great  cloister  of 
the  abbey/  they  write,  '  is  a  well-furnished  library, 
considering  the  time  when  it  was  erected  by 
Dr.  Williams,  Dean  of  Westminster  and  Bishop 
of  Lincoln ;  who  was  a  great  promoter  of  learning. 
He  purchased  the  books  of  the  heirs  of  one  Baker 
of  Highgate,  and  founded  it  for  public  use  every 

1  'After  this,  hearing  his  Majesty  would  not  abate  anything  of  his  fine, 
he  desired  that  it  might  be  taken  up  by  iooo/.  yearly  as  his  estate  would 
bear  it,  till  the  whole  should  be  paid.  But  that  was  not  granted  :  Kilvert 
[the  solicitor  for  the  prosecution]  was  ordered  to  go  to  Bugden  and  Lincoln, 
and  there  to  seize  upon  all  he  could  and  bring  it  into  the  Exchequer. 
Kilvert,  glad  of  the  office,  made  sure  of  all  that  could  be  found,  goods  of  all 
sorts,  plate,  books,  etc.  to  the  value  of  10,000/.,  of  which  he  never  gave 
account  but  of  800/.  The  timber  he  felled,  killed  the  deer  in  the  park,  sold 
an  organ  which  cost  120/.  for  10/.,  pictures  which  cost  400/.  for  4/.,  made 
away  with  what  books  he  pleased,  and  continued  revelling  for  three  summers 
in  Bugden-house.  For  four  cellars  of  wine,  cyder,  ale,  and  beer,  with  wood, 
hay,  corn,  and  the  like,  stored  up  for  a  year  or  two,  he  gives  no  account  at 
all ;  and  thus  a  large  personal  estate  was  squandered  away,  and  not  the 
least  part  of  the  King's  fine  paid  all  this  while,  whereas  if  it  had  been 
managed  to  the  best  advantage,  it  would  have  been  sufficient  to  have 
discharged  the  whole.' — Biographia  Ihitannica,  vol.  vi.  p.  4288  (note). 


JOHN    SELDEN  85 

day  in  Term,  from  nine  to  twelve  in  the  forenoon, 
and  from  two  till  four  in  the  afternoon.  The 
mss.  are  kept  in  the  inner  part,  but  by  an  accident 
many  of  them  were  burnt.'  Mr.  James  Yeowell, 
the  editor  of  the  work,  adds  in  a  note  that  '  Dean 
Williams  converted  a  waste  room,  situate  in  the 
east  side  of  the  cloisters,  into  a  library,  which 
he  enriched  with  the  valuable  works  from  the 
collection  of  Sir  Richard  Baker,  author  of  The 
Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  England,  which  cost 
him  500/.  A  catalogue  of  this  library  is  in  Harl. 
ms.  694.  There  is  also  a  ms.  catalogue,  compiled 
in  1798  by  Dr.  Dakin,  the  precentor,  arranged 
alphabetically.' 

A  portrait  of  Archbishop  Williams  is  hung  in 
the  library  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge. 


JOHN  SELDEN,  1584-1654 

John  Selden,  the  distinguished  legal  antiquary, 
historian,  and  Oriental  scholar,  who  was  styled 
by  his  friend  Ben  Jonson  '  a  monarch  in  letters,' 
and  '  vir  omni  eruditionis  genere  instructissimus  ' 
by  Archbishop  Laud,  was  born  on  the  16th  of 
December  1584  at  Salvington,  near  Worthing,  in 
Sussex.  His  father  was  John  Selden,  a  farmer, 
known  as  the  ■  Minstrel '  on  account  of  his  pro- 
ficiency in  music.     Aubrey  describes  him  as  'a 


86  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

yeomanly  man  of  about  forty  pounds  a  year,  who 
played  well  on  the  violin,  in  which  he  took  much 
delight.'  Selden  was  first  educated  at  the  free 
grammar  school  at  Chichester,  and  afterwards 
proceeded  with  an  exhibition  to  Hart  Hall,  since 
merged  in  Magdalen  Hall,  Oxford.  On  leaving 
the  university  he  was  admitted  a  member  of 
Clifford's  Inn ;  but  in  1604  removed  to  the  Inner 
Temple.  Wood,  in  his  A  thence  Oxonienses,  says 
of  him  that  '  after  he  had  continued  there  a  sedu- 
lous student  for  some  time,  he  did,  by  the  help 
of  a  strong  body  and  a  vast  memory,  not  only 
run  through  the  whole  body  of  the  law,  but 
became  a  prodigy  in  most  parts  of  learning, 
especially  in  those  which  were  not  common  or 
little  frequented  or  regarded  by  the  generality  of 
students  of  his  time.  So  that  in  a  few  years  his 
name  was  wonderfully  advanced  not  only  at  home 
but  in  foreign  countries,  and  he  was  usually  styled 
the  great  dictator  of  learning  of  the  English 
nation.  .  .  .  He  was  a  great  philologist,  anti- 
quary, herald,  linguist,  statesman,  and  what  not.' 
Selden  devoted  his  time  rather  to  chamber  prac- 
tice and  to  legal  researches  and  the  study  of 
history  and  antiquities  than  to  the  more  active 
part  of  his  profession.  It  is  said  he  wrote  his 
first  work,  Analecton  Anglo -Brttann  icon,  as 
early  as  1607,  when  only  twenty-two  years  of 
age,  but  it  was  not  published  until  eight  years 
later.       The   Duello,    England's   Epinomis,   and 


JOHN   SELDEN  87 

Jani  Anglorum  Fades  Altera  appeared  in  16 10, 
Titles  of  Honour  in  16 14,  De  Diis  Syris  Syntag- 
mata Duo  in  161 7,  and  The  History  of  Tithes 
in  16 1 8,  wherein  he  allows  the  legal,  but  denies 
the  divine,  right  of  the  clergy  to  the  receiving  of 
tithes.  The  more  important  of  his  later  works 
are  Marmora  Arundeliana,  published  in  1628, 
De  Successionibus  in  1631,  Mare  Clausum  in 
1635,  DeJureNaturali  et  Gentium  juxt a  Discip- 
linam  Ebrczorum  Libri  VII  in  1640,  and  Fleta, 
seu  Commentarius  Juris  Anglicani,  an  ancient 
manuscript  which  he  edited  and  annotated,  in 
1647.  Among  his  other  literary  labours  are  the 
notes  appended  to  Drayton's  Polyolbion.  A 
volume  of  his  Table  Talk  was  published  after 
his  death  in  1689,  and  his  complete  works  in 
1726,  in  three  volumes  folio.  In  1621  Selden 
was  committed  to  prison  for  having  advised  the 
House  of  Commons  to  assert  its  right  to  offer 
advice  to  the  Crown,  but  was  released  after  an 
imprisonment  of  five  weeks.  He  first  entered  the 
House  of  Commons  in  1623  as  Member  for 
Lancaster,  and  for  some  years  took  a  very  pro- 
minent part  in  its  proceedings.  During  the  later 
disputes  between  Charles  and  the  Parliament  he 
acted  with  great  moderation,  and  it  is  said  that 
at  one  time  the  King  thought  of  intrusting  him 
with  the  Great  Seal.  Selden  subscribed  the 
Covenant  in  1643,  and  was  made  Keeper  of  the 
Rolls  and  Records  in  the  Tower.      In  1645  he 


88  INGUSH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

was  appointed  a  Commissioner  of  the  Admiralty, 
and  in  the  same  year  he  was  elected  Master  of 
Trinity  Hall,  Cambridge,  an  office  he  declined  to 
accept.  Parliament  voted  him  five  thousand 
pounds  in  1647  as  compensation  for  his  suffer- 
ings during  the  monarchy  ;  but  Wood  states  that 
'  some  there  are  that  say  that  he  refused  and 
could  not  out  of  conscience  take  it,  and  add  that 
his  mind  was  as  great  as  his  learning,  full  of 
generosity  and  harbouring  nothing  that  seemed 
base.'  Although  he  remained  in  Parliament 
after  the  execution  of  the  King,  he  almost  entirely 
withdrew  from  public  affairs,  and,  it  is  said,  re- 
fused to  write  a  reply  to  the  Eikon  Basil  ike 
when  requested  to  do  so  by  Cromwell.  Selden 
died  on  November  30,  1654,  at  Friary  House, 
Whitefriars,  the  residence  of  Elizabeth,  Countess 
Dowager  of  Kent,  to  whom  it  was  reputed 
he  had  been  married.  He  was  interred  in  the 
Temple  Church,  where  a  monument  was  erected 
to  his  memory. 

Selden  collected  a  very  fine  library,  'rich  in 
classics  and  science,  theology  and  history,  law 
and  Hebrew  literature,'  of  which  about  eight 
thousand  volumes  were  eventually  added  to  the 
Bodleian  Library.  Selden  had  bequeathed  his 
books  to  the  Bodleian ;  but  it  is  said  he  was  so 
offended  with  the  University  for  refusing  the 
loan  of  a  manuscript  except  upon  a  bond  for  one 
thousand  pounds,  that  he  revoked  the  bequest, 


JOHN  SELDEN  89 

and  left  them  to  the  free  disposal  of  his  executors. 
They  offered  the  collection  to  the  Society  of  the 
Inner  Temple,  but  as  no  building  was  provided 
for  its  reception,  they  carried  out  the  original 
intention  of  Selden,  and  gave  it  in  1659  to  the 
Bodleian,  stipulating  at  the  same  time  that  all 
the  books  should  be  chained,  and  ^25,  10s.  was 
expended  for  that  purpose.  There  is  no  doubt, 
however,  that  a  considerable  number  of  the 
manuscripts  came  into  the  possession  of  that 
library  soon  after  Selden's  death,  and  the  entire 
affair  is  involved  in  some  obscurity.  The  Rev. 
W.  D.  Macray,  who,  in  his  Annals  of  the 
Bodleian  Library,  goes  very  fully  into  the 
matter,  gives  another  reason  for  Selden's  dis- 
pleasure. 'In  July  1649/  ne  writes,  'the  new 
intruded  officers  and  fellows  of  Magdalene 
College  found  in  the  Muniment-room  in  the 
cloister-tower  of  the  College  a  large  sum  of 
money  in  the  old  coinage  called  Spur-royals,  or 
Ryals,  amounting  to  ^£1400,  the  equivalent  of 
which  had  been  left  by  the  Founder  as  a  reserve- 
fund  for  law  expenses,  for  re-erecting  or  repairing 
buildings  destroyed  by  fire,  etc.,  or  for  other 
extraordinary  charges.  This  gold  had  been  laid 
up  and  counted  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time,  and 
had  remained  untouched  since  then ;  consequently, 
although  some  of  the  old  members  of  the  College 
were  aware  of  its  existence,  to  the  new-comers 
it  seemed  a  welcome  and  unexpected  discovery. 

M 


9o  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

especially  as  the  College  was  at  the  time  heavily 
in  debt.  They  immediately  proceeded  to  divide 
it  among  all  the  members  on  the  foundation  pro- 
portionately, not  excluding  the  choristers  (who 
were  at  that  time  undergraduates),  the  Puritan 
President,  Wilkinson,  being  alone  opposed  to 
such  an  illegal  proceeding,  and  being  with  diffi- 
culty prevailed  upon  to  accept  ^ioo  as  his  share, 
which,  however,  upon  his  death-bed  he  charged 
his  executors  to  repay.  The  Spur-royals  were 
exchanged  at  the  rate  of  18s.  6d.  to  20s.  each, 
and  each  fellow  had  thirty-three  of  them.  But 
when  the  fact  of  this  embezzlement  of  corporate 
funds  became  known,  the  College  was  called  to 
account  by  Parliament,  and,  although  they  at- 
tempted to  defend  themselves,  they  individually 
deemed  it  wise  to  refund  the  greater,  or  a  con- 
siderable, part  of  what  had  been  abstracted. 
Fuller,  whose  Church  History  was  published  in 
the  year  following  Selden's  death,  after  telling 
this  scandalous  story,  proceeds  thus  (Book  ix. 
p.  234): — "Sure  I  am,  a  great  antiquarie  lately 
deceased  (rich  as  well  in  his  state  as  learning)  at 
the  hearing  thereof  quitted  all  his  intention  of 
benefaction  to  Oxford  or  any  place  else."  .  .  . 
And  Wood  (Hist,  and  Antiq.,  by  Gutch,  ii.  942) 
says  that  he  had  been  told  that  this  misappro- 
priation was  one  reason  of  Selden's  distaste  at 
Oxford.' 

Besides    the    books    sent    to    the    Bodleian 


THOMAS  HOWARD  91 

Library,  those  relating  to  law  were  given  to 
Lincoln's  Inn,  and  some  medical  works  were 
bequeathed  by  Selden  to  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians. '  Eight  chests  full  of  registers  of  abbeys, 
and  other  manuscripts  relating  to  the  history  of 
England,'  were  unfortunately  destroyed  in  a  fire 
at  the  Temple ;  and  many  volumes  also  were  lost 
during  the  interval  between  Selden's  death  and 
their  arrival  at  Oxford. 


THOMAS  HOWARD,  EARL  OF  NORFOLK, 

1 586- 1 646 

One  of  the  most  zealous  and  successful  collectors 
of  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  was 
Thomas  Howard,  only  son  of  Philip,  Earl  of 
Arundel,  and  grandson  of  Thomas,  Duke  of 
Norfolk,  who  was  beheaded  in  1572.  He  was 
born  on  the  7th  of  July  1586.  In  1595  his  father 
died  in  the  Tower,  and  by  his  attainder  his  son 
was  deprived  of  his  titles  and  lands.  On  the 
accession  of  James  1.  the  former  were  restored  to 
him,  but  the  King  retained  the  property.  Lord 
Arundel  was  created  Earl  of  Norfolk  in  1644, 
and  died  at  Padua  on  the  4th  of  October  1646. 

After  his  death  his  collections  were  partially 
dispersed ;  and  in  1666  his  printed  books  were 
presented,  at  the  instigation  of  John  Evelyn,  to 
the  Royal  Society  by  Henry  Howard,  afterwards 


92 


ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 


sixth  Duke  of  Norfolk,  a  grandson  of  the  Earl, 
while  the  manuscripts  were  divided  between  that 
Society  and  the  College  of  Arms.  In  1831  the 
principal  portion  of  the  manuscripts  in  possession 
of  the   Royal    Society  were   transferred   to   the 

British  Museum,  and 
the  remainder,  con- 
sisting of  Oriental 
manuscripts,  in  1835. 
They  were  valued  at 
three  thousand  five 
hundred  and  fifty- 
nine  pounds,  and 
were  paid  for  partly 
in  money,  and  partly 
with  duplicates  of 
printed  books  in  the 
Museum  collection. 
A  large  portion  of 
the  Earl's  library  con- 
sisted of  the  books 
of  Bilibaldus  Pirck- 
heimer  of  Nurem- 
berg, which  he  ac- 
quired during  a  diplomatic  mission  into  Germany 
in  1636.  Some  of  the  manuscripts,  Oldys  states, 
once  formed  part  of  the  library  of  Matthias  Cor- 
vinus,  King  of  Hungary.  The  Earl  of  Norfolk's 
collections  also  comprised  a  very  large  number 
of  antique  marbles,  paintings,  vases,  and  gems. 


Arms  of  Thomas  Howard, 
Earl  ok  Norfolk. 


RICHARD  SMITH  93 


RICHARD  SMITH,   1590-1675 

Richard  Smith  or  Smyth,  who  was  born  in 
1590  at  Lillingston  Dayrell,  Buckinghamshire, 
was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Smith  of  Abing- 
don, Berkshire.  He  was  sent  to  the  University 
of  Oxford,  but  did  not  matriculate,  and  after  a 
short  stay  there  was  removed  by  his  parents,  and 
articled  to  a  solicitor  of  the  city  of  London.  In 
1644  ne  became  Secondary  of  the  Poultry 
Compter,  which  was  worth  about  seven  hundred 
pounds  a  year.  This  office  he  held  until  the 
death  of  his  eldest  son  John  in  1655,  when  he 
sold  it,  and  '  betook  himself,'  says  Anthony  a 
Wood,  'wholly  to  a  private  life,  two-thirds  of 
which  he  at  least  spent  in  his  library.'  He  died 
on  the  26th  of  March  1675,  and  was  buried  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Giles,  Cripplegate,  where  a 
monument  was  erected  to  his  memory. 

Smith  was  an  indefatigable  collector,  and 
amassed  a  library  of  very  fine  and  rare  books, 
many  of  which  had  belonged  to  an  earlier  col- 
lector, Humphrey  Dyson.  These  books  came  to 
Smith  by  marriage.1    Wood  informs  us  that  '  he 

1  Hearne  in  his  Diary  (Oct.  4,  1714)  states  :  'That  Mr.  Rich.  Smith's 
rare  and  curious  collection  of  books  was  began  first  by  Mr.  Humphrey 
Dyson,  a  public  notary,  living  in  the  Poultry.  They  came  to  Mr.  Smith  by 
marriage.  This  is  the  same  Humphrey  Dyson  that  assisted  Howes  in  his 
continuation  of  Stowe's  Survey  of  London,  ed.  folio  ;'  and  in  his  preface  to 
Peter  Langtoft's  Chronicle  (vol.  i.  p.  xiii.)  Hearne  describes  Dyson  as  4a 


94  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

was  constantly  known  every  day  to  walk  his 
rounds  among  the  booksellers'  shops  (especially 
in  Little  Britain)  in  London,  and  by  his  great 
skill  and  experience  he  made  choice  of  such  books 
that  were  not  obvious  to  every  man's  eye.'  '  He 
lived  in  times,'  Wood  adds,  'which  ministred 
peculiar  opportunities  of  meeting  with  books  that 
were  not  every  day  brought  into  public  light :  and 
few  eminent  libraries  were  bought  where  he  had 
not  the  liberty  to  pick  and  choose.  .  .  .  He  was 
also  a  great  collector  of  mss.,  whether  ancient  or 
modern  that  were  not  extant,  and  delighted  much 
to  be  poring  on  them.'  Wood  also  states  that 
after  Smith's  death,  '  there  was  a  design  to  buy 
his  choice  library  for  a  public  use,  by  a  collec- 
tion of  moneys  to  be  raised  among  generous 
persons,  but  the  work  being  public,  and  therefore 
but  little  forwarded,  it  came  into  the  hands  of 
Richard  Chiswell,  a  bookseller  living  in  S. 
Paul's  Ch.-yard,  London :  who  printing  a  cata- 
logue of,  with  others  added  to,  them,  which  came 
out  after  Mr.  Smith's  death,  they  were  exposed 
to  sale  by  way  of  auction,  to  the  great  reluctancy 
of  public-spirited  men,  in  May  and  June  1682.' 
The  sale,  which  commenced  on  the  15th  of  May, 
and  was  continued  day  by  day  the  first  five  days 
of  every  week  until  all  the  books  were  sold,  took 

person  of  a  very  strange,  prying,  and  inquisitive  genius  in  the  matter  of 
books,  as  may  appear  from  many  Libraries  ;  there  being  Books  (chiefly  in 
old  English)  almost  in  every  Library,  that  have  belongM  to  him.  with  his 
name  upon  them.'    Some  of  his  books  are  preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 


RICHARD  SMITH  95 

place  at  '  the  Auction  House  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Swan  in  Great  Bartholomew's  Close.'  It 
realised  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  fourteen 
pounds,  twelve  shillings  and  eleven  pence.1  A 
copy  of  the  catalogue,  with  the  prices  in 
manuscript,  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 
The  sums  obtained  for  the  Caxtons,  of  which 
there  were  about  a  dozen,  will  be  interesting 
to  bibliographers.  A  copy  of  Godfrey  of 
Bulloyn,  which  it  is  stated  had  belonged  to 
King  Edward  iv.,  fetched  the  highest  price — 
eighteen  shillings ;  and  the  Game  of  the  Chesse, 
the  History  of  Jason,  and  the  Eneydos  of  Virgil 
sold  respectively  for  thirteen  shillings,  five 
shillings  and  a  penny,  and  three  shillings  ;  while 
no  more  than  two  shillings  could  be  got  for  the 
Book  of  Good  Manners.  A  fine  copy  of  the 
Coverdale  Bible  realised  only  twenty  shillings 
and  sixpence,  and  Captain  John  Smith's  History 
of  Virginia  went  for  seven  shillings  and  two- 
pence. The  manuscripts  also,  even  for  those 
days,  sold  at  exceedingly  low  prices. 

A  very  interesting  account  of  the  library  will 
be  found  in  an  article  on  English  Book-Sales, 
1681-86,  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Pollard,  in  vol.  ii.  of 
Bibliographica.     Mr.  Smith  wrote  some  learned 

1  In  an  entry  in  his  Diary  (Sep.  4,  1715)  Hearne  says  : — 'Mr.  Richard 
Smith's  Catalogue  that  is  printed  contains  a  very  noble  and  very  extra- 
ordinary collection  of  books.  It  was  begun  first  in  the  time  of  King 
Hen.  viii.,  and  comeing  to  Mr.  Smith,  he  was  so  very  diligent  and  exact  in 
continueing  and  improving,  that  hardly  anything  curious  escaped  him.' 


96  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

works  which  he  left  in  manuscript.  A  Letter  to 
Dr.  Henry  Hammond,  concerning  t/ie  Sense  of 
that  Article  in  the  Creed,  He  descended  into 
Hell,  written  by  Smith  in  1659,  was  printed  in 
1684;  and  his  Obituary,  being  a  catalogue  of  all 
such  persons  as  he  knew  in  their  life  ;  extending 
from  a.d.  1627  to  a.d.  1674,  was  edited  for  the 
Camden  Society  by  Sir  H.  Ellis,  K.H.,  in  1849. 

The  manuscript  of  the  Obituary,  together  with 
the  manuscripts  of  two  or  three  other  works  by 
Smith  are  preserved  among  the  Sloane  Manu- 
scripts in  the  British  Museum.  A  portrait  of 
him  was  engraved  by  William  Sherwin. 


GEORGE   THOMASON,  died  1666 

George  Thomason,  who  formed  the  wonderful 
collection  of  Civil  War  tracts,  which  was  given 
to  the  British  Museum  by  King  George  in., 
was  born  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  or  begin- 
ning of  the  seventeenth  century.  Nothing  appears 
to  be  known  of  his  parents.  He  took  up  his 
freedom  as  a  member  of  the  Stationers'  Company 
on  the  5th  of  June  1626.1  His  first  publica- 
tion was  a  new  edition  of  Martyn's  History  of 
the  Kings  of  England,  which  he  produced  in 
conjunction  with  James  Boler  and  Robert  Young 
in  1628,  and  he  continued  to  publish  books  until 

1  Arbcr,  Transcript  of  the  Register,  voL.  iii.  p.  686. 


GEORGE  THOMASON  97 

1660.  He  carried  on  business  at  the  Rose  and 
Crown,  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  and  we  learn 
from  the  Obituary  of  Richard  Smith  that  he 
died  on  April  10,  1666,  and  was  'buried  out 
of  Stationers'  Hall  (a  poore  man).'  The  Rev. 
George  Thomason,  who  was  Canon  of  Lincoln 
from  1683  to  17 1 2,  is  stated  to  have  been  his 
eldest  son. 

The  number  of  separate  printed  tracts  in  the 
collection  which  Thomason  formed  with  such 
unwearied  perseverance  for  twenty  years  is  stated 
in  an  Account  of  it,1  printed  about  1680,  to  consist 
of  '  near  Thirty  Thousand  several  sorts,'  together 
with  '  near  one  hundred  several  ms.  pieces  that 
were  never  printed,  all,  or  most  of  them  on 
the  King's  behalf,  which  no  man  durst  then 
venture  to  publish  without  endangering  his 
Ruine,'  and  it  is  said  that  these  were  contained 
in  'above  Two  Thousand  bound  Volumes.'  Mr. 
Falconer  Madan,  however,  in  his  admirable 
paper  on  the  Thomason  Tracts  in  Bibliogra- 
phical informs  us  that  after  going  carefully 
through  the  collection,  and  looking  at  every 
title-page,  he  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  present  number  of  separate  pieces  is  twenty- 
two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-one  in 
print,  and  seventy-three  in  manuscript,  comprised 

1  Copies  are  preserved  in  the  British  Museum  and  the  Bodleian  Library, 
and  it  is  reprinted  in  Beloe's  Anecdotes  vol.  ii.  p.  248. 
*  Vol.  iii.  p.  304. 

N 


98  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

in  about  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  volumes. 

All  the  tracts  are  arranged  in  chronological 
order,  and  from  July  1642  to  the  end  of  the  col- 
lection Thomason  has  placed  the  date  of  issue 
on  every  piece  when  it  is  not  printed  on  it,  and 
has  also  endeavoured  to  supply  the  place  of 
printing  when  not  given.  These  notes  are  some- 
times supplemented  by  others  commenting  on 
the  opinions  of  the  autnors  of  the  tracts.  There 
is  a  manuscript  catalogue  in  twelve  folio  volumes, 
compiled  by  Marmaduke  Foster,  and  annotated 
and  corrected  by  Thomason  himself. 

The  collection  is  not  confined  to  tracts  relating 
to  the  Civil  War  and  the  Commonwealth;  it  also 
contains  many  works  on  other  subjects.  Among 
these  is  a  fine  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  Walton's 
Compieat  Angler,  which  at  the  present  time 
would  realise  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  large  a  sum 
as  the  amount  (three  hundred  pounds)  given  by 
King  George  in.  for  the  entire  series. 

The  collection,  which  was  commenced  by 
Thomason  in  1640,  and  continued  until  1661, 
was  made  by  him  under  great  difficulties.  He 
was  a  staunch  Royalist,  and  the  books  appear 
to  have  been  in  constant  danger  of  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  Parliamentary  army.  We  read 
in  the  Account  to  which  we  have  already  referred 
that  '  to  prevent  the  Discovery  of  them,  when 
the  Army  was   Northwards,  he  pack'd  them  up 


GEORGE   THOMASON  99 

in  several  Trunks,  and  by  one  or  two  in  a  week 
sent  them  to  a  trusty  Friend  in  Surry,  who  safely 
preserv'd  them ;  and  when  the  Army  was  West- 
ward, and  fearing  their  Return  that  way,  they 
were  sent  to  London  again ;  but  the  Collector 
durst  not  keep  them,  but  sent  them  into  Essex, 
and  so  according  as  they  lay  near  Danger,  still, 
by  timely  removing  them,  at  a  great  charge, 
secur'd  them,  but  continu'd  perfecting  the  Work. 

'And  for  a  further  Security  to  them,  there 
was  a  Bargain  pretended  to  be  made  with  the 
University  of  Oxford  and  a  Receipt  of  a 
Thousand  Pounds  given  and  acknowledg'd  to 
be  in  part  for  them,  that  if  the  Usurper  had 
found  them  out,  the  University  should  claim 
them,  who  had  greater  Power  to  struggle  for 
them  than  a  private  Man. 

1  All  these  Shifts  have  been  made,  and  Diffi- 
culties encounter'd  to  keep  the  Collection  from 
being  embezel'd  and  destroy'd ;  which  with  the 
great  Charges  of  collecting  and  binding  them, 
cost  the  Undertaker  so  much  that  he  refused 
Four  Thousand  Pounds  for  them  in  his  Life 
time,  supposing  that  Sum  not  sufficient  to  re- 
imburse him.' 

And  in  another  account,  at  one  time  prefixed 
to  the  catalogue  of  the  collection,  it  is  stated  that 
1  not  thinking  them  safe  anywhere  in  England, 
he  at  last  took  a  resolution  to  send  them  into 
Holland  for  their  more  safe  preservation.     But 


ioo         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

considering  with  himself  what  a  treasure  it  was, 
upon  second  thoughts,  he  durst  not  venture  them 
at  sea,  but  resolved  to  place  them  in  his  ware- 
houses in  form  of  tables  round  about  the  rooms 
covered  over  with  canvas,  continuing  still  with- 
out any  intermission  his  going  on ;  nay,  even 
then,  when  by  the  Usurper's  power  and  com- 
mand he  was  taken  out  of  his  bed,  and  clapt  up 
close  prisoner  at  Whitehall  for  seven  weeks'  space 
and  above,1  he  still  hoping  and  looking  for 
that  day,  which,  thanks  be  to  God,  is  now  come, 
and  there  is  put  a  period  to  that  unparallelled 
labour,  charge  and  pains  he  had  been  at. 

1  Oxford's  Library  Keeper2  (that  then  was)  was 
in  hand  with  them,  about  them  a  long  time,  and 
did  hope  the  Publick  Library  might  compass 
them ;  but  that  could  not  be  then  effected,  it 
rising  to  so  great  a  sum  as  had  been  expended 
on  them  for  so  long  a  time  together.' 

After  Thomason's  death  a  trust  was  appointed 
under  his  will  to  take  charge  of  the  tracts,  and 
one  of  the  trustees,  Dr.  Thomas  Barlow,  Bodley's 
librarian  from  1652  to  1660,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Lincoln,  had  them  for  a  long  time  in  his 
custody,  as  appears  from  a  letter  addressed  by 
him  to  the  Rev.  George  Thomason,  the  son  of 

1  Thomason  was  implicated  in  Christopher  Love's  plot  against  the  Com- 
monwealth. There  are  several  entries  in  the  Calendar  of  State  rapers  which 
refer  to  his  imprisonment.  Mr.  A.  W.  Pollard,  the  editor  of  Bibliographica, 
has  given  a  list  of  them  in  a  note  (vol.  iii.  p.  298)  to  Mr.  Madan's  paper  on 
the  Thomason  Collection  in  that  publication. 

*  Probably  Dr.  Thomas  Barlow,  librarian  of  the  Bodleian  Library. 


GEORGE  THOMASON  101 

the  collector,  dated  Oxon,  February  6,  1676. 
He  mentions  in  the  letter  that  he  had  endeavoured 
to  secure  them  for  the  Bodleian  Library,  and 
that  although  he  had  hitherto  failed,  he  still  did 
not  despair  of  finding  a  way  to  do  so.  He  was 
not,  however,  successful  in  his  efforts,  and  King 
Charles  11.  appears  to  have  directed  Samuel 
Mearn,  the  royal  stationer  and  bookbinder,  to 
buy  them  on  his  account;  it  is  not  known  for 
what  sum.  It  is  to  be  presumed,  however,  that 
the  King  did  not  find  the  money  for  them,  for 
on  May  15,  1684,  the  Privy  Council  considered 
and  granted  a  petition  from  Anne  Mearn,  widow 
of  Samuel  Mearn,  that  she  might  dispose  of 
the  tracts  by  sale.  She  does  not  seem  to  have 
succeeded  in  doing  this,  and  they  appear  to  have 
been  returned  to  the  Thomason  family,  for  in 
the  year  1745  we  find  them  in  possession  of  Mr. 
Henry  Sisson,  a  druggist  in  Ludgate  Street, 
London,  who,  Richard  Gough,  the  antiquary, 
was  informed,  was  a  descendant  of  the  collector.- 
After  some  negotiations  with  the  Duke  of 
Chandos  for  their  purchase,  they  were  brought 
by  Thomas  Hollis2  to  the  notice  of  King 
George  in.,  who,  through  the  Earl  of  Bute, 
bought  them  of  Miss  Sisson  in  1761  for  the 
sum  of  three  hundred  pounds,  and  in  the  fol- 

1  Gough,  Anecdotes  of  British  Typography,  second  edition,  p.  699,  note. 
*  Memoirs  of  Hollis,  vol.  i.  pp.  121,  192  ;  vol.  ii.  p.  717. 


102         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

lowing  year  they  were  presented  by  him  to  the 
British  Museum. 

On  one  of  the  volumes  of  the  collection  are 
some  mud  stains,  which  have  an  interesting 
history.  The  volume  was  borrowed  from 
Thomason  by  King  Charles  i.,  who  was  anxious 
to  read  one  of  the  tracts  in  it,  and  while  journey- 
ing to  the  Isle  of  Wight  let  it  fall  in  the  dirt. 
Thomason  made  a  memorandum  of  the  circum- 
stance on  a  fly-leaf  of  the  book,  adding  the 
1  volume  hath  the  marke  of  honor  upon  it,  which 
noe  other  volume  in  my  collection  hath.' 

In  1647  Thomason  published  a  trade  cata- 
logue in  quarto,  consisting  of  fifty-eight  closely 
printed  pages,  entitled  Catalogus  Librorum  dt- 
versis  Italicc  locis  emptorum  Anno  Dom.  1647, 
a  Georgio  Thomasono  Bibliopola  Londinensi 
apud  quern  in  Ccemiterio  D.  Pauli  ad  insigne 
Roscc  Coronatce  prostant  venales.  Londini, 
Typis  Johannis  Legatt,  1647,  anc^  m  J^4^  a 
selection  of  works  in  oriental  languages  from 
this  catalogue  was  purchased  by  order  of  the 
House  of  Commons,1  who  directed  that  the  sum 
of  five  hundred  pounds  out  of  the  receipts  at 
Goldsmiths'  Hall  should  be  paid  for  the  books, 
in  order  that  they  might  be  bestowed  upon  the 
Public  Library  at  Cambridge. 

Mr.  A.  W.  Pollard,  in  a  note  to  Mr.  Madan's 
article  in  Bibliographica,  states  that  Thomason 

1  Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons,  24th  March  1648. 


SIR  SYMONDS  D'EWES  103 

had  great  difficulty  in  getting  the  money  for 
these  books:  'On  March  28th,  1648/  he  tells 
us,  '  the  five  hundred  pounds  was  ordered  to  be 
paid  from  the  arrears  of  the  two  months'  assess- 
ments for  the  Scots  army  before  Newark ;  on  Sep. 
25th  it  was  charged  on  the  composition  of  Col- 
onel Humphrey  Matthews ;  and  on  Nov.  16th, 
Thomason,  being  still  unpaid,  was  consoled  by 
interest  at  the  rate  of  eight  per  cent. 


SIR  SYMONDS  D'EWES,  Bart.,  1602-1650 

Sir  Symonds  d'Ewes,  one  of  the  most  eminent 
of  the  antiquaries  and  collectors  of  the  first  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  was  born  in  1602. 
He  was  the  son  of  Paul  D'Ewes  of  Milden, 
Suffolk,  and  Cecilia,  daughter  and  heiress  of 
Richard  Simonds  of  Coxden,  Chardstock,  Dor- 
setshire. In  16 1 8  he  was  sent  to  St.  John's 
College,  Cambridge,  but  left  in  1620,  and  entered 
at  the  Middle  Temple,  being  called  to  the  Bar 
in  1623.  He  soon,  however,  gave  up  his  legal 
practice,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of 
history  and  antiquities.  D'Ewes  was  made  a 
knight  in  1626,  and  created  a  baronet  in  1641. 
He  was  twice  married,  and  died  in  1650.  The 
baronetcy  became  extinct  in  1731. 

D'Ewes   possessed   a  very  fine  collection  of 
manuscripts,  which  were  sold  by  his  grandson 


io4 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLFXTORS 


to  Sir  Robert  Harley,  afterwards  Earl  of  Oxford, 
notwithstanding   the    injunction    of   D'Ewes,    in 

his  will,  that  his 
library  should  not 
be  sold  or  dispersed. 
Oldys  states  that 
Harley  recom- 
mended Queen 
Anne  to  purchase 
the  manuscripts  for 
a  public  library, 
as  the  richest  col- 
lection in  England 
next  to  Sir  Robert 
Cotton's,  but  that 
the  Queen  said, 
1  It  was  no  virtue 
for  her,  a  woman, 
to  prefer  as  she  did 
arts  to  arms ;  but 
while  the  blood 
and  honour  of  the 
nation  was  at  stake 
in  her  wars,  she 
could  not,  till  she 
had  secured  her 
living  subjects  an 
honourable  peace, 
bestow  their  money  on  dead  letters.'  'Where- 
upon,' adds  Oldys,  'the  Earl  stretched  his  own 


Book-stamh  ok  Sir  Symonds  d'Kvves,  Bart. 


SIR  KENELM  DIGBY  105 

purse,  and  gave  six  thousand  pounds  for  the 
library.'  The  manuscripts,  together  with  a  list 
of  them,  which  is  believed  to  have  been  made  by 
D'Ewes  himself,  now  form  part  of  the  Harleian 
Collection  in  the  British  Museum.  The  manu- 
script of  an  Anglo-Saxon  Dictionary,  compiled 
by  D'Ewes  in  conjunction  with  Francis  Junius, 
and  several  of  his  diaries  are  also  preserved 
there.  His  great  work  was  the  Journals  of  all 
the  Parliaments  during  the  reign  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  which  was  not  published  until  1682. 


SIR  KENELM  DIGBY,  1603-1665 

The  celebrated  scholar  and  collector,  Sir  Kenelm 
Digby,  was  born  at  Gayhurst,  near  Newport 
Pagnell,  Buckinghamshire,  in  1603.  He  was 
the  son  of  Sir  Everard  Digby,  who  was  executed 
in  1606  for  the  part  he  took  in  the  Gunpowder 
Plot.  Sir  Kenelm,  who  was  the  author  of 
several  remarkable  works,  is  described  by  Lord 
Clarendon  as  a  man  of  'very  extraordinary 
person  and  presence,  with  a  wonderful  graceful 
behaviour  and  a  flowing  courtesy  and  civility.' 
He  was  knighted  in  1623.  Digby  possessed  a 
very  fine  library,  which  he  formed  during  his 
residence  in  Paris,  and  he  had  many  of  the 
volumes  bound  there  by  Le  Gascon  and  other 
eminent  binders.     An  earlier  library  which  he 

o 


io6 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


collected  is  said  to  have  been  burnt  by  the  Round- 
heads during  the  Civil  War.1  When  he  died  in 
1665,    h*s    library,    which    was   still    in    France, 

was  claimed  as 
the  property  of 
the  French  king, 
by  virtue  of  the 
droit  tiaubaine, 
and  it  is  said  to 
have  been  pur- 
chased for  ten 
thousand  crowns 
by  the  Earl  of 
Bristol,  who  died 
in  1676,  and 
whose  books,con- 
jointly  with  those 
of  another  col- 
lector, were  sold 
in  London  in 
April  1680.  A 
priced  catalogue 
of  the  sale  is 
preserved  in  the 
British  Museum ;  and  it  is  stated  in  it  that  the 
books  principally  belonged  '  to  the  library  of  the 
Right  Honourable  George,  late  Earl  of  Bristol, 
a  great  part  of  which  were  the  Curiosities  col- 


One  of  Sir  Kknelm  Digby's  Book-stamps. 


1  See  Article  on  English  Book- Sales,  1676- 1 680,  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Pollard, 
in  Bibliographica,  vol.  i.  p.  373. 


SIR  KENELM  DIGBY  107 

lected  by  the  learned  Sir  Kenelme  Digby.'  It 
is  evident,  however,  that  a  considerable  number 
of  the  volumes  which  belonged  to  Digby  re- 
mained in  France,  as  several  are  to  be  found  in 
the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  and  other  libraries. 
In  a  communication  to  the  Library  Association 
of  the  United  Kingdom,  M.  Leopold  Delisle, 
Director  of  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  gives  a 
list  of  manuscripts  and  printed  books  in  that 
library,  which  were  formerly  the  property  of  the 
collector.  One  volume,  with  a  very  beautiful 
binding  by  Le  Gascon,  is  preserved  in  the 
Bibliotheque  Mazarine.  Sir  Kenelm  presented 
to  the  Bodleian  Library  a  valuable  collection  of 
manuscripts  and  printed  books  which  Thomas 
Allen,  his  former  tutor,  had  bequeathed  to  him 
in  1630.  He  also  gave  a  considerable  number  of 
volumes  to  the  library  of  Harvard  College,  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.,  and  the  following  notice  of  the  gift 
occurs  in  the  works  of  Richard  Baxter : — 

'  I  proposed/  he  writes, '  to  have  given  almost  all  my  library 
to  Cambridge  in  New  England ;  but  Mr.  Thomas  Knowles, 
who  knew  their  library,  told  me  that  Sir  Kenelm  Digby  had 
already  given  them  the  Fathers,  Councils  and  Schoolmen,  and 
that  it  was  Histories  and  Commentators  which  they  wanted. 
Whereupon  I  sent  them  some  of  my  Commentators  and  some 
Histories,  among  which  were  Freherus,  Renherus,  and  Pistorius's 
collections.' 

Unfortunately,  this  first  Harvard  library  was 
destroyed  by  fire  in  1764.  At  that  time  it  con- 
tained about  six  thousand  volumes. 


io8          ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


RALPH  SHELDON,   1623-1684 

Ralph  Sheldon,  who  was  born  on  the  1st  of 
August  1623,  at  Beoley  in  Worcestershire,  was 
the  eldest  son  of  William  Sheldon  of  Beoley  and 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William,  second  Lord 
Petre.  He  was  privately  educated,  and  at  the 
age  of  nineteen  he  paid  a  visit  to  France  and 
Italy,  and  resided  at  Rome  for  some  time,  return- 
ing home  about  1647,  after  an  absence  of  four 
years  from  his  native  country.  Sheldon  appears 
to  have  been  greatly  respected,  and  Nash,  in  his 
Collections  for  the  History  of  Worcestershire, 
says  '  he  was  a  person  of  such  rare  worth  and 
excellent  qualities  as  deserve  particular  notice. 
He  was  a  great  patron  of  learning  and  learned 
men,  and  well  skilled  in  the  history  and  anti- 
quities of  his  country,  sparing  no  money  to  set  up 
a  standing  library  at  Weston.  He  was  a  great 
friend  to  Anthony  Wood,  and  left  him  a  legacy 
of  ^40.  He  purchased  the  valuable  mss.  of  the 
ingenious  Augustine  Vincent,  Windsor  Herald, 
and  Keeper  of  the  records  in  the  Tower,  temp. 
Charles  1.,  which  at  his  death  he  bequeathed  to 
the  Heralds'  College,  where  they  are  still  pre- 
served ;  and  allowed  John  Vincent  his  son  a 
yearly  pension  for  many  years.  He  travelled 
often  to  Rome,  and  spent  some  time  there  to 
furnish   himself   with   choice   books,   coins   and 


RALPH  SHELDON  109 

medals.  In  short,  he  was  of  such  remarkable 
integrity,  charity  and  hospitality,  as  gained  him 
the  universal  esteem  of  all  the  gentlemen  of  the 
county ;  insomuch  that  he  usually  went  by  the 
name  of  the  Great  Sheldon.  .  .  .  And  for  the 


Book-stamp  of  Ralph  Sheldon. 


sufferings  which  himself  and  father  had  under- 
gone in  the  civil  wars,  he  was  nominated  by 
Charles  11.  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  Warwickshire, 
who  were  to  have  received  the  honour  of  the 
Order  of  the  Royal  Oak,  had  it  been  instituted  ; 


no         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

his  estate  being  then  valued  at ^2000  per  annum, 
the  largest  of  any  in  the  county,  except  that  of 
the  Middlemores  of  Rdgbaston,  which  was  esti- 
mated of  the  same  annual  value.'  The  library 
formed  by  Sheldon  at  his  manor-house  of  Weston 
in  the  parish  of  Long  Compton,  Warwickshire, 
was  a  fine  one.  Among  the  printed  books  was  a 
very  curious  and  probably  unique  copy  of  the 
first  folio  of  Shakespeare  (now  the  property  of 
the  Baroness  Burdett-Coutts),  where  the  conclud- 
ing passages  of  Romeo  and 'Juliet ',  and  the  opening 
passages  of  Troilus  and  Cressida,  are  printed 
twice  over  at  different  parts  of  the  volume.  This 
irregularity  was  discovered  by  Mr.  Sidney  Lee, 
who  read  a  paper  on  the  subject  before  the 
Bibliographical  Society  on  March  21,  1898.  The 
library  at  Weston  was  dispersed  in  1781. 

In  commemoration  of  Sheldon's  gifts  to 
Heralds'  College,  Mr.  Ralph  Bigland,  who  was 
created  Blue  Mantle  in  1757,  and  died  as  Garter 
in  1784,  caused  a  handsome  canvas  to  be  painted, 
on  which  are  emblazoned  Sheldon's  arms, 
impaled  with  those  of  his  wife,  accompanied  by 
the  following  biographical  notice: — 'To  the 
Memory  of  Ralph  Sheldon  of  Beoley  in  the 
County  of  Worcester,  Esquire,  a  great  Benefactor 
to  this  Office.  Who  died  at  his  Manor-House  of 
Weston  in  the  Parish  of  Long-Compton,  in  the 
County  of  Warwick,  on  Midsuffler  Day,  1684, 
aged  61   years  wanting  6  weeks:  the  Day  after- 


DR.  FRANCIS  BERNARD  in 

wards  his  Heart  and  Bowels  were  buried  in 
Long-Compton  Chancel,  in  a  Vault  by  those  of 
his  Father,  Mother,  Grandfather,  etc.,  and  on  the 
ioth  of  July  following,  his  Body  in  a  Vault  by 
his  Ancestors  under  our  Lady's  Chapel,  Joyning 
on  the  North  Side  to  St.  Leonard's  Church  of 
Beoley :  He  married  Henrietta-Maria,  Daughter 
of  Thomas  Savage,  Viscount  Rock-Savage  by 
Elizabeth  his  wife,  Daughter  of  Thomas,  Lord 
Darcy,  of  Chich  in  Essex,  Viscount  Colchester 
and  Earl  Rivers,  but  by  her  had  no  issue.' 

This  canvas  is  still  preserved  in  Heralds' 
College. 

Sheldon  compiled  A  Catalogue  of  the  Nobility 
of  England  since  the  Norman  Conquest,  accord- 
ing to  theire  severall  Creations  by  every  particular 
King,  with  the  arms  handsomely  emblazoned. 
This  manuscript  came  into  the  possession  of  Sir 
Thomas  Phillipps,  and  formed  one  of  the  lots  at 
the  sale  of  his  collection  in  June  1893. 


DR.  FRANCIS  BERNARD,  1627-1698 

Dr.  Francis  Bernard  was  born  in  1627.  He 
was  a  Fellow  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  Assis- 
tant-Physician to  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital, 
and  Physician -in-Ordinary  to  King  James  11. 
He  died  on  the  9th  of  February  1698,  and  was 
buried    in   the    parish   church   of    St.    Botolph, 


ii2  ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

London,  where  his  wife  erected  a  monument  to 
his  memory. 

Dr.  Bernard  formed  a  very  extensive  library, 
which  consisted,  '  more  especially  of  that  sort  of 
Books  which  are  out  of  the  Common  Course, 
which  a  Man  may  make  the  Business  of  his  Life 
to  collect,  and  at  last  not  be  able  to  accomplish.' ] 
It  was  very  rich  in  works  relating  to  medicine, 
and  it  also  contained  a  considerable  number  of 
early  English  books,  among  which  were  about 
a  dozen  Caxtons.  The  collection  was  sold  by 
auction  shortly  after  Bernard's  death.  The  title- 
page  of  the  sale  catalogue  reads  : — '  A  Catalogue 
of  the  Library  of  the  late  learned  Dr.  Francis 
Bernard,  Fellow  of  the  College  of  Physicians, 
and  Physician  to  S.  Bartholomew's  Hospital. 
Being  a  large  Collection  of  the  best  Theological, 
Historical,  Philological,  Medicinal  and  Mathe- 
matical Authors,  in  the  Greek,  Latin,  Italian, 
Spanish,  French,  German,  Dutch  and  English 
Tongues,  in  all  Volumes,  which  will  be  sold  by 
Auction  at  the  Doctor's  late  Dwelling  House  in 
Little  Britain ;  the  Sale  to  begin  on  Tuesday, 
Octob.  4,  1698/  A  copy  of  the  catalogue,  with 
the  prices  in  manuscript,  is  in  the  British  Museum. 
The  sale  consisted  of  nearly  fifteen  thousand  lots 
and  thirty-nine  bundles  of  tracts,  which  realised 
nineteen  hundred  and  twenty  pounds;  the  expenses 
of    the    sale   amounting   to   three  hundred    and 

1  Address  to  the  reader,  prefixed  to  sale  catalogue. 


SAMUEL  PEPYS  113 

twenty  pounds.  The  Caxtons  sold  for  a  little 
over  two  guineas.  The  Dictes  or  Sayings  of  the 
Philosophers  and  the  Knight  of  the  Tower  each 
fetched  five  shillings  and  fourpence,  the  History 
of  fason  three  shillings  and  sixpence,  the 
Histories  of  King  Arthtir  two  shillings  and  ten- 
pence,  the  Chastising  of  Gods  Children  one 
shilling  and  tenpence,  and  the  second  edition  of 
the  Game  of  the  Chesse  one  shilling  and  sixpence. 
Dibdin  says  that  Dr.  Bernard  was  'a  stoic 
in  bibliography.  Neither  beautiful  binding,  nor 
amplitude  of  margin,  ever  delighted  his  eye  or 
rejoiced  his  heart :  for  he  was  a  stiff,  hard,  and 
straightforward  reader — and  learned,  in  Literary 
History,  beyond  all  his  contemporaries ' ;  and  in 
the  preface  to  the  sale  catalogue  we  read  that  he 
was  'a  person  who  collected  books  for  use,  and 
not  for  ostentation  or  ornament,  and  he  seemed 
no  more  solicitous  about  their  dress  than  his  own! 
A  memorandum  book  containing  notes  of  his 
visits  to  patients,  etc.,  is  in  the  Sloane  collection 
of  manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum. 


SAMUEL  PEPYS,  1633-1703 

Samuel  Pepys,  Secretary  to  the  Admiralty  in 
the  reigns  of  King  Charles  11.  and  King  James  11., 
was  born  either  at  London  or  Brampton  in 
Huntingdonshire  on  the  23rd  of  February  1633. 


Book-plate  of  Samuel  Pkpys. 


SAMUEL  PEPYS  115 

His  father,  John  Pepys,  was  a  citizen  of  London, 
where  he  followed  the  trade  of  a  tailor,  but  in 
1 66 1  retired  to  Brampton,  at  which  place  he  had 
inherited  a  property  of  eighty  pounds  a  year  from 
his  eldest  brother  Robert  Pepys.  He  died  there 
in  1680.  Samuel  Pepys  received  his  early  educa- 
tion at  Huntingdon,  and  afterwards  at  St.  Paul's 
School,  London,  where  he  continued  until  1650, 
in  which  year  he  was  admitted  at  Trinity  Hall, 
Cambridge.  On  the  5th  of  March  1651  he 
migrated  as  a  sizar  to  Magdalene  College,  Cam- 
bridge, where  he  is  entered  in  the  books  of  the 
College  as  '  Samuel  Peapys,'  and  where,  two  years 
later,  he  was  elected  to  a  scholarship  founded  by 
John  Smith.  He  graduated  B.A.  in  1653  and 
M.A.  in  1660.  In  1659  he  accompanied  his 
relative,  Sir  Edward  Montagu,  afterwards  Earl 
of  Sandwich,  on  his  expedition  to  the  Sound,  and 
on  his  return  became  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  Sir 
G.  Downing,  one  of  the  Tellers  of  the  Exchequer. 
In  1660  he  was  appointed  Clerk  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Navy,  which  post  he  held  until  1673,  when 
he  was  made  Secretary  for  the  Affairs  of  the 
Navy,  and  in  1684  he  became  Secretary  of  the 
Admiralty,  an  office  he  retained  until  the  acces- 
sion of  William  and  Mary,  when  he  lost  his 
public  appointments,  and  retired  into  private  life. 
Pepys  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society 
in  1665,  and  m  J684  became  President.  He  died 
at  Clapham  on  the  26th  of  May  1703,  and  was 


n6  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

buried  in  the  church  of  St.  Olave,  Hart  Street, 
London. 

Pepys  collected  a  very  interesting  library, 
which  is  now  preserved  in  a  fireproof  room  in 
Magdalene  College,  Cambridge.  It  consists  of 
about  three  thousand  volumes  arranged  in  eleven 
mahogany  cases  in  the  precise  order  in  which 
Pepys  left  them.  The  cases  are  the  identical 
ones  mentioned  in  his  Diary,  August  24,  1666 : — 
4  Up  and  dispatched  several  businesses  at  home 
in  the  morning,  and  then  comes  Sympson  to  set 
up  my  other  new  presses  for  my  books,  and  so 
he  and  I  fell  in  to  the  furnishing  of  my  new 
closett,  and  taking  out  the  things  out  of  my  old, 
and  I  kept  him  with  me  all  day,  and  he  dined 
with  me,  and  so  all  the  afternoon  till  it  was  quite 
dark  hanging  things,  that  is  my  maps  and  pic- 
tures and  draughts,  and  setting  up  my  books, 
and  as  much  as  we  could  do,  to  my  most  extra- 
ordinary satisfaction ;  so  I  think  it  will  be  as 
noble  a  closet  as  any  man  hath,  and  light  enough 
— though  indeed  it  would  be  better  to  have  a 
little  more  light.' 

This  room,  Mr.  Wheatley  tells  us  in  his 
excellent  account  of  the  library  in  vol.  i.  of 
Bibliographica,  'was  at  the  Navy  Office  in 
Crutched  Friars,  and  the  illustration  in  the 
ordinary  editions  of  the  Diary  shows  the  posi- 
tion of  the  cases  when  they  were  transferred  to 
the  house  in  York  Buildings  (now  Buckingham 


SAMUEL  PEPYS  117 

Street,  Strand).'  'The  presses,'  he  adds,  'are 
handsomely  carved,  and  have  handles  fixed  at 
each  end ;  the  doors  are  formed  of  little  panes  of 
glass,  and  in  the  lower  divisions  the  glass  win- 
dows are  made  to  lift  up.  The  books  are  all 
arranged  in  double  rows ;  but  by  the  ingenious 
plan  of  placing  small  books  in  front  of  large  ones, 
the  letterings  of  all  can  be  seen.  Neatness  was 
a  mania  with  Pepys,  and  the  volumes  were 
evened  on  all  the  shelves ;  in  one  instance  some 
short  volumes  have  been  raised  to  the  required 
height  by  help  of  wooden  stilts,  gilt  in  front.' 

The  library  consists  principally  of  ordinary 
books,  but  it  also  comprises  some  valuable  manu- 
scripts, and  many  volumes  from  the  presses  of 
the  early  English  printers.  It  contains  as  many 
as  nine  Caxtons,  eight  Pynsons,  and  nineteen 
Wynkyn  de  Wordes,  several  of  the  last  being 
unique.  The  books  printed  by  Caxton  are  the 
Game  of  the  Chesse,  Polychronicon,  Chronicles  of 
England,  Description  of  Britain,  Mir r our  of  the 
World,  Book  of  the  Order  of  Chivalry,  the  first 
and  second  editions  of  the  Canterbury  Tales,  and 
the  Chastising  of  Gods  Children.  Among  the 
most  interesting  collections  is  one  of  eighteen 
hundred  ballads  in  five  folio  volumes ;  and  an- 
other of  four  duodecimo  volumes  of  garlands  and 
other  popular  publications,  printed  for  the  most 
part  in  black  letter.  The  volumes  are  lettered : 
Vol.  1  Penny  Merriments,  Vol.  2  Penny  IVitti- 


n8 


ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 


asms,  Vol.  3  Penny  Compliments,  and  Vol.  4 
Penny  Godlinesses.  In  the  first  volume  of  the 
ballads  Pepys  has  written : — *  My  collection  of 
ballads,  begun  by  Mr.  Selden,  improv'd  by  the 


Book-stamp  of  Samuel  Pepys. 


addition  of  many  pieces  elder  thereto  in  time ; 
and  the  whole  continued  to  the  year  1700/  The 
library  also  possesses  collections  of  old  novels, 
pieces  of  wit,  chivalry,  etc.,  plays,  books  on  short- 


SAMUEL  PEPYS  119 

hand,  tracts  on  the  Popish  Plot,  liturgical  con- 
troversies, sea  tracts,  news-pamphlets,  etc. 

The  most  interesting  manuscripts  are  the 
famous  Diary  in  six  volumes,  the  papers  col- 
lected by  Pepys  for  his  proposed  Navalia,  and 
a  collection  of  Scottish  poetry,  formed  by  Sir 
Richard  Maitland  of  Lethington,  Lord  Privy 
Seal  and  Judge  in  the  Court  of  Session,  who 
died  in  1586.  The  drawings  and  prints  in  the 
library  are  numerous  and  valuable.  Among 
them  are  portraits  of  Pepys's  friends,  and  prints 
and  drawings  illustrating  the  city  of  London ; 
one  of  the  rarest  of  these  is  the  large  plan  of 
London  attributed  to  Agas,  of  which  only  one 
other  copy  is  known.  The  library  also  contains 
some  volumes  of  music  with  the  title,  Songs  and 
other  Compositions ',  Light,  Grave  and  Sacred, 
for  a  single  voice  adjusted  to  the  particular 
compass  of  mine ;  with  a  thorough  base  on  y 
ghitarr  by  Cesare  Morelli.  Several  songs  com- 
posed by  Pepys  are  in  this  collection,  one  of 
which,  entitled  Beauty  Retire,  was  a  great  suc- 
cess, and  the  composer  was  very  proud  of  it. 
All  the  books  in  the  library  are  in  excellent  con- 
dition, and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  in 
morocco  or  vellum,  are  bound  in  calf.  Almost 
all  of  them  bear  Pepys's  arms  on  the  lower 
cover;  while  on  the  upper  is  found  a  shield 
with  the  inscription,  Sam.  Pepys  Car.  et  Iac. 
Angl.   Regib.  a  Secretis  Admirali^e.      This 


120 


ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 


shield  is  surmounted  with  his  helmet  and  crest, 
and  is  surrounded  by  mantling,  in  which  are 
introduced  two  anchors,  indicating  his  office. 
He  also  used  three  bookplates — one  with  his 
arms,  quartering  Talbot  of  Cottenham  ;  a  second 


Book-stamp  of  Samuel  Pepts. 


with  his  portrait  by  Robert  White,  with  his 
motto,  Mens  cujusque  is  est  Qnisque,  from  the 
Somnium  Scipionis  of  Cicero ;  and  a  third  bear- 


SAMUEL  PEPYS  121 

ing  his  initials,  with  two  anchors  crossed,  together 
with  his  motto. 

Pepys  left  his  library,  together  with  his  other 
property,  to  his  nephew,  John  Jackson ;  but  in  a 
paper  of  directions  respecting  it,  preserved  among 
the  Harleian  Manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum, 
he  expresses  a  desire  that  at  his  nephew's  death 
it  should  be  placed  in  either  Trinity  or  Magdalene 
College,  Cambridge,  preferably  '  in  the  latter,  for 
the  sake  of  my  own  and  my  nephew's  education 
therein.'  In  addition  to  Pepys'  collection  at 
Magdalene  College,  the  Bodleian  Library  con- 
tains a  series  of  his  miscellaneous  papers  in 
twenty-five  volumes,  together  with  numerous 
other  volumes  which  belonged  to  him,  including 
many  curious  dockyard  account-books  of  the 
times  of  King  Henry  vm.  and  Queen  Elizabeth.1 
These  were  bequeathed  to  the  library  by  Dr. 
Richard  Rawlinson,  the  nonjuring  bishop.  Mr. 
John  Eliot  Hodgkin,  F.S.A.,  of  Childwall,  Wey- 
bridge,  Surrey,  also  possesses  some  papers  which 
once  belonged  to  Pepys. 

Pepys  published  Memoirs  relating  to  the 
State  of  the  Royal  Navy  of  England  for  ten 
years  determined  December  1688,  in  1690;  and 
a  work  entitled  The  Portugal  History:  or  a 
Relation  of  the  Troubles  that  happened  in  the 
Court  of  Portugal  in  the  years  1667  and  1668 
.  .  .  by  S.  P.,  Esq.,  printed  at  London  in  1677, 

1  Mac  ray,  Annals  of  the  Bodleian  Library. 

Q 


i22         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

is  also  attributed  to  him.  His  well-known  Diary, 
the  manuscript  of  which  fills  six  small  volumes  of 
closely  written  shorthand,  was  first  deciphered  by 
the  Rev.  John  Smith,  Rector  of  Baldock,  Hert- 
fordshire, and  was  published,  with  a  selection 
from  his  private  correspondence,  by  Lord  Bray- 
brooke,  in  two  volumes  in  1825.  It  has  since 
been  several  times  reprinted.  The  last  edition, 
edited  by  Mr.  H.  B.  Wheatley,  F.S.A.,  published 
in  eight  volumes  octavo  in  1893-96,  contains  the 
whole  of  the  Diary,  with  the  exception  of  passages 
which  cannot  possibly  be  printed. 


EDWARD  STILLINGFLEET,  BISHOP 
OF  WORCESTER,  1635-1699 

Edward  Stillingfleet,  Bishop  of  Worcester, 
was  the  seventh  son  of  Samuel  Stillingfleet  of 
the  family  of  Stillingfleet  of  Stillingfleet,  York- 
shire. He  was  born  at  Cranborne  in  Dorsetshire 
on  the  17th  of  April  1635,  and  received  his  early 
education  in  the  grammar  schools  of  Cranborne 
and  Ringwood.  In  his  fifteenth  year  he  was 
admitted  into  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge, 
where  he  obtained  a  Fellowship  in  1653.  For 
several  years  after  leaving  college  he  was  engaged 
as  a  private  tutor,  first  in  the  family  of  Sir  Roger 
Burgoyne    of   Wroxall    in    Warwickshire,    and 


BISHOP  STILLINGFLEET  123 

afterwards  in  that  of  the  Hon.  Francis  Pierre- 
point  of  Nottingham,  during  which  period  he 
was  ordained  by  Ralph  Brownrig,  the  deprived 
Bishop  of  Exeter.  In  1657  ne  was  presented  by 
Sir  R.  Burgoyne  to  the  rectory  of  Sutton,  Bed- 
fordshire, and  in  1665  the  Earl  of  Southampton 
gave  him  the  rectory  of  St.  Andrew's,  Holborn. 
He  was  also  appointed  Preacher  at  the  Rolls 
Chapel,  and  shortly  afterwards  Reader  of  the 
Temple,  and  Chaplain  in  Ordinary  to  Charles  11. 
In  1667  he  was  collated  to  a  Canonry  in  St.  Paul's, 
London;  in  1669  he  became  a  Canon  'in  the 
twelfth  prebend'  in  Canterbury  Cathedral;  in  1677 
Archdeacon  of  London;  in  1678  Dean  of  St.  Paul's; 
and  on  the  13th  of  October  1689  he  was  con- 
secrated Bishop  of  Worcester.  He  died  at  his 
residence  in  Park  Street,  Westminster,  on  the 
27th  of  March  1699,  and  was  buried  in  Worcester 
Cathedral,  where  a  monument  was  erected  to  his 
memory  by  his  son,  with  a  Latin  epitaph  by 
Richard  Bentley,  who  had  been  one  of  his 
chaplains. 

Bishop  Stillingfleet  collected  'at  a  vast  expence 
of  time,  pains  and  money'  a  very  choice  and 
valuable  library,  which  contained  a  considerable 
number  of  manuscripts,  and  upwards  of  nine 
thousand  five  hundred  printed  volumes,  besides 
many  pamphlets.  It  is  stated  that  there  were 
over  two  thousand  folios  in  it,  and  that  it  cost  the 
Bishop  six  thousand  pounds.     Evelyn  in  a  letter 


i24         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

to  Pepys,  dated  August  12th,  1689,  writes:  'The 
Bishop  of  Ely 1  has  a  well  stor'd  library  ;  but  the 
very  best  is  what  Dr.  Stillingfleete,  Deane  of  St 
Paule's,  has  at  Twicknam,  ten  miles  out  of  towne.' 
After  Stillingfleet's  death  his  library  was  offered 
for  sale.  Entries  in  Evelyn's  diary2  show  that 
great  efforts  were  made  to  persuade  William  in. 
to  buy  it,  but  they  evidently  failed,  as  the  historical 
manuscripts  were  purchased  by  Robert  Ilarley 
(afterwards  Earl  of  Oxford),  while  the  remainder 
of  the  collection  was  acquired  by  Narcissus  Marsh, 
Archbishop  of  Armagh,  who  bought  the  books 
for  a  public  library  in  Dublin  which  he  had 
founded.  He  is  said  to  have  paid  two  thousand 
five  hundred  pounds  for  them.  Stillingfleet,  who 
on  account  of  his  handsome  person  was  nick- 
named '  the  beauty  of  holiness,'  was  the  author 
of  Origines  Britannicce,  or  Antiquities  of  the 
British  Churches,  and  many  controversial  works. 
His  collected  works  were  printed  in  17 10  in  six 
volumes  folio,  and  a  volume  of  his  miscellaneous 
works  was  published  in  1735  by  his  son,  the  Rev. 
James  Stillingfleet,  Canon  of  Worcester. 

1  John  Moore,  Bishop  of  Ely,  whose  library  was  purchased  by  King 
George  I.,  and  presented  by  him  to  the  University  of  Cambridge. 

*  '  April 29,  1699. — I  dined  with  the  Archbishop,  but  my  business  was  to 
get  him  to  persuade  the  King  to  purchase  the  late  Bishop  of  Worcester's 
library,  and  build  a  place  for  his  own  library  at  St.  James's,  in  the  Parke, 
the  present  one  being  too  small.' 

1  May  3,  1699. — At  a  meeting  of  the  Royal  Society  I  was  nominated 
to  be  of  the  Committee  to  wait  on  the  Lord  Chancellor  to  move  the  King 
to  purchase  Bp.  of  Worcester's  library.' 


BISHOP  MOORE  125 


JOHN  MOORE,  BISHOP  OF  ELY, 
1646-17 14 

John  Moore,  Bishop  successively  of  Norwich 
and  Ely,  who  was  born  at  Sutton-juxta- 
Broughton,  Leicestershire,  in  1646,  was  the 
eldest  son  of  Thomas  Moore,  an  ironmonger 
at  Market  Harborough.  He  was  educated  at 
the  Free  School,  Market  Harborough,  and  at 
Clare  College,  Cambridge,  where  he  obtained  a 
fellowship  in  1667.  Having  taken  holy  orders, 
he  was  collated  in  1676  to  the  rectory  of  Blaby 
in  Leicestershire ;  and  in  1679,  through  the  in- 
fluence of  Heneage  Finch,  Earl  of  Nottingham, 
who,  in  1670,  had  appointed  him  his  chaplain, 
he  was  installed  canon  in  Ely  Cathedral.  In 
1687  he  was  presented  by  the  dean  and  chapter 
of  St.  Paul's  to  the  rectory  of  St.  Austin, 
London,  and  in  1689  he  obtained  the  rectory 
of  St.  Andrew's,  Holborn,  which  he  held  with 
his  canonry  at  Ely  until  1691,  when  he  was 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Norwich.  He  remained 
in  that  see  until  1707,  in  which  year  he  was 
translated  to  the  more  valuable  bishopric  of  Ely. 
Moore  died  on  the  31st  of  July  17 14,  from  the 
effects  of  a  cold  which  he  caught  while  presiding 
at  the  trial  of  Dr.  Bentley,  Master  of  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  who  was  charged  with  en- 
croaching on  the  privileges  of  the  fellows  of  that 


126         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

institution.     He  was  buried   in   Ely  Cathedral, 
where  a  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory. 

Bishop  Moore,  who  is  called  by  Dibdin  *  the 
father  of  black-letter  collectors  in  this  country,' 
was  a  great  and  generous  patron  of  learning, 
and  formed  a  magnificent  library,  which  at  the 
time  of  his  death  contained  nearly  twenty-nine 
thousand  printed  books  and  seventeen  hundred 
and  ninety  manuscripts.  John  Bagford  was  the 
principal  assistant  in  its  collection,  and  in  return 
for  his  services  the  Bishop  procured  him  a  place 
in  the  Charterhouse.  The  library,  which  was 
kept  in  the  episcopal  residence  in  Ely  Place, 
Holborn,  where  it  occupied  '  eight  chambers/  is 
mentioned  in  Notices  of  London  Libraries,  by 
John  Bagford  and  William  Oldys,  where  it  is 
stated  that  '  Dr.  John  Moore,  the  late  Bishop  of 
Ely,  had  also  a  prodigious  collection  of  books, 
written  as  well  as  printed  on  vellum,  some  very 
ancient,  others  finely  illuminated.  He  had  a 
Capgraves  Chronicle,  books  of  the  first  printing 
at  Mentz,  and  other  places  abroad,  as  also  at 
Oxford,  St.  Alban's,  Westminster,  etc'  John 
Evelyn,  Bishop  Burnet,  and  Ralph  Thoresby 
also  write  in  terms  of  high  praise  of  the  excellence 
and  great  extent  of  the  collection.  Richard 
Gough,  the  antiquary,  states  that  'the  Bishop 
formed  his  library  by  plundering  those  of  the 
clergy  in  his  diocese.  Some  he  paid  with  sermons 
or  more  modern  books;   others  only  with  quid 


BISHOP  MOORE 


127 


illiterati  cum  libris ' ;  but  there  appears  to  be 
little,  if  any,  truth  in  this  accusation.  Moore, 
who  was  anxious  that  his  library  should  not  be 
dispersed  after  his  death,  offered  it,  in  17 14,  to 


Book-plate  placed  in  books  from  Bishop  Moore's  Library  givbn  by 
George  i.  to  the  University  of  Cambridge. 

Robert  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford,  for  the  sum  of 
eight  thousand  pounds  ;  but  the  negotiation  failed 
in  consequence,  it  is  said,  of  the  Bishop  '  insisting 


128         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

on  being  paid  the  money  in  his  lifetime,  though 
Lord  Oxford  was  not  to  have  the  books  till  the 
Bishop's  death.'  After  Moore's  decease  the 
collection  was  sold  for  six  thousand  guineas  to 
George  i.,  who  gave  it,  on  the  suggestion  of 
Lord  Townsend,  to  the  University  of  Cambridge. 
A  special  book-plate,  designed  and  engraved  by 
John  Pine,  was  placed  in  the  volumes.  At  the 
same  time  that  the  king  sent  these  books  to  the 
University  he  despatched  a  troop  of  horse  to 
Oxford,  which  occasioned  the  two  well-known 
epigrams  attributed  to  Dr.  Tripp  and  Sir  William 
Browne — 

•Contrary  methods  justly  George  applies 
To  govern  his  two  universities, 
To  Oxford  sent  a  troop  of  horse  ; — for  why  ? 
That  learned  body  wanted  Loyalty. 
To  Cambridge  he  sent  books,  as  well  discerning, 
How  much  that  loyal  body  wanted  learning.' 

The  reply  by  Sir  W.  Browne  runs — 

1  Contrary  methods  justly  George  applies 
To  govern  his  two  universities, 
And  so  to  Oxford  sent  a  troop  of  horse, 
For  Tories  hold  no  argument  but  force  ; 
To  Cambridge  Ely's  learned  books  are  sent, 
For  Whigs  admit  no  force  but  argument' 

This  is  not  the  only  version  of  these  epigrams, 
but  the  Rev.  Cecil  Moore  in  his  Memoir  of  the 
Bishop  considers  it  to  be  the  correct  one. 

Moore's  diaries,  letters,  and  private  accounts 
are  also  preserved  in  the  Cambridge  University 


JOHN  BAGFORD  129 

Library.  A  volume  containing  his  printed 
sermons  was  published  in  17 15,  and  a  second 
issue  in  two  volumes  in  1724.  Both  series  were 
edited  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Clarke,  D.D. 


JOHN  BAGFORD,    i6so?-i7i6 

John  Bagford  was  born  about  1650.  The  exact 
date  of  his  birth  is  unknown,  and  he  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  acquainted  with  it  himself, 
for  a  short  time  before  his  death  he  informed 
Mr.  James  Sotheby  that  he  was  either  sixty-five 
or  sixty-six  years  of  age,  he  could  not  tell  which. 
According  to  the  belief  of  Thomas  Hearne,  the 
antiquary,  he  was  born  in  Fetter  Lane,  London, 
and  he  was  no  doubt  for  some  time  a  shoemaker, 
for  in  a  very  curious  and  entertaining  little 
treatise  on  the  Art  of  Shoemaking  and  Historical 
Account  of  Clout  king  of  ye  foot,  which  is  believed 
to  have  been  written  by  him,  and  is  now  preserved 
among  the  Harleian  manuscripts  in  the  British 
Museum,  the  writer  states  that  he  was  brought  up 
to  the  'craft  of  shoemaking.'  This  trade,  how- 
ever, he  soon  abandoned  for  a  more  congenial 
occupation,  and  he  became  a  collector  of  books  on 
commission  for  booksellers  and  amateurs.  In 
pursuance  of  this  work  he  made  several  journeys 
to  the  Continent,  and  acquired  a  great  knowledge 


i3o         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

of  books,  prints,  and  literary  curiosities.  He  was 
specially  employed  by  Robert  Harley,  Earl  of 
Oxford,  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  and  John  Moore, 
Bishop  of  Ely,  who  appear  to  have  greatly 
appreciated  his  judgment,  diligence,  and  honesty  ; 
and  the  last-named  collector  procured  him,  as 
some  recompense  for  his  services,  admission  into 
the  Charterhouse.  Nothing  is  known  of  Bag- 
ford's  parents,  and  little  of  his  domestic  life,  but 
he  appears  to  have  been  married,  for  on  the  back 
of  a  leaf  in  one  of  the  volumes  of  his  collections 
we  find  the  following  memorandum  in  Bagford's 
writing :  '  John,  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Bag- 
ford,  was  baptized  31st  October  1675,  in  the 
parish  of  St.  Anne,  Blackfriars.'  This  son  seems 
to  have  become  a  sailor  in  the  Royal  Navy,  for  in 
another  volume  in  the  same  collections  there  is  a 
power  of  attorney,  dated  April  6,  17 13,  signed  by 
John  Bagford,  Junior,  empowering  his  '  honoured 
father,  John  Bagford,  Senior,  of  the  parish  of 
St.  Sepulchre,  in  the  county  of  Middlesex,  book- 
seller,' to  claim  and  receive  from  the  Paymaster 
of  Her  Majesty's  Navy  his  wages  as  a  seaman  in 
case  of  his  death.  Bagford,  who  took  great 
interest  in  all  descriptions  of  antiquities,  was  one 
of  the  little  group  of  distinguished  men  who 
reconstituted  in  1707  the  Society  of  Antiquaries. 
He  died,  Dr.  Birch  informs  us,  at  Islington  on 
the  15th  of  May  17 16,  and  was  buried  in  the 
graveyard  belonging  to  the  Charterhouse. 


JOHN  BAGFORD 


Ui 


During  his  researches  for  his  employers 
Bagford  amassed  two  great  collections  :  one  con- 
sisting of  ballads,  now  known  as  the  '  Bagford 
Ballads ' ;  the  other  being  a  vast  collection  of 
leaves  from  manuscripts,  title-pages  and  frag- 
ments of  books,  specimens  of  paper,  book-plates, 


John  Bagford. 

engravings,  bindings,  catalogues,  advertisements, 
and  various  interesting  and  curious  pieces.  With 
the  aid  of  these  materials  Bagford  intended  to 
write  a  history  of  printing,  and  in  1707  he 
published  his  Proposals  for  an  Historical 
Account  of  that  most  universally  celebrated  as 
well  as  useful  Art  of  Typography.     The  work, 


i32         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

which  was  also  to  contain  a  history  of  book- 
binding, paper-making,  etc.,  was,  however,  never 
published,  and  it  has  been  often  stated  that 
Bagford  was  quite  incompetent  to  carry  out  such 
an  undertaking.  This  may  possibly  have  been 
the  case,  for  although  he  was  certainly  a  man  of 
much  ability,  and  possessed  an  extensive  know- 
ledge of  books,  he  had  received  but  little  educa- 
tion. Several  of  his  contemporaries,  however, 
held  a  different  opinion,  and  among  them  Hearne, 
who  repeatedly  expresses  in  his  works  his  ad- 
miration of  both  Bagford's  genius  and  his 
collections. 

The  method  of  compiling  a  history  of  printing 
from  a  collection  of  title-pages  appears  to  be  both 
a  clumsy  and  a  costly  one,  but  it  seems  probable 
from  entries  in  the  diary  of  Oldys,  and  from 
Gough's  memoir  of  Ames,  that  that  bibliographer 
wrote  his  Typographical  Antiquities  with  the 
aid  of  similar  materials. 

Bagford  has  been  subjected  to  very  severe 
censure  for  mutilating  books  for  the  purpose 
of  forming  his  collection  of  title-pages.  Mr. 
Blades,  in  his  work  The  Enemies  of  Books, 
accuses  him  of  being  '  a  wicked  old  biblioclast 
who  went  about  the  country,  from  library 
to  library,  tearing  away  title-pages  from  rare 
books  of  all  sizes ' ;  and  Dr.  Dibdin  in  Biblio- 
mania states  that  he  '  was  the  most  hungry  and 
rapacious  of  all  book  and  print  collectors.'     The 


JOHN  BAGFORD  133 

testimony  of  Hearne  (who  knew  Bagford  well,  and 
who  was  also  amply  qualified  to  judge  both  of  his 
merits  and  demerits),  however,  is  very  different. 
He  writes  :  '  It  was  very  laudable  in  my  Friend, 
Mr.  John  Bagford  (who  I  think  was  born  in 
Fetter  Lane,  London),  to  employ  so  much  of 
his  time,  as  he  did,  in  collecting  Remains  of 
Antiquity.  Indeed  he  was  a  man  of  very  sur- 
prising genius,  and  had  his  education  (for  he  was 
first  a  shoemaker,  and  afterwards  for  some  time 
a  bookseller)  been  equal  to  his  natural  genius,  he 
would  have  proved  a  much  greater  man  than  he 
was.  And  yet,  without  this  education,  he  was, 
certainly,  the  greatest  man  in  the  world  in  his 
way.  .  .  .  Tis  very  remarkable,  that,  in  col- 
lecting, his  care  did  not  extend  itself  to  Books 
and  to  the  fragments  of  Books,  only,  but  even  to 
the  very  Covers,  and  to  the  Bosses  and  Clasps ; 
and  all  this,  that  he  might,  with  the  greater  ease, 
compile  the  History  of  Printing,  which  he  had 
undertaken,  but  did  not  finish.  In  this  noble 
Work  he  intended  a  Discourse  about  Binding, 
.  .  .  and  another  about  the  Art  of  making 
paper,  in  both  of  which  his  observations  were 
very  accurate.' 

A  great  number  of  the  title-pages  and  frag- 
ments collected  by  Bagford  are  evidently  taken 
from  books  which  could  be  purchased  in  his  day 
for  a  few  shillings,  many  of  them  probably  for  a 
few  pence;    while  it  is  possible  that  some  may 


i34  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

have  been  salvage  from  the  Great  Fire  of  1666, 
when  we  know  immense  quantities  of  books  were 
burnt  or  damaged.  The  collections,  it  is  true, 
contain  fragments  of  the  Gutenberg  Bible,  various 
Caxtons,  and  other  rare  books,  but  there  is  no 
reason  to  think  that  these  were  abstracted  from 
complete  copies  ;  it  is  much  more  likely  that  they 
were  odd  leaves  which  Bagford  had  picked  up, 
while  the  leather  stains  on  some  of  the  most 
valuable  show  that  they  once  formed  part  of  the 
padding  of  old  bindings.  Many  of  the  books 
were  probably  acquired  by  Bagford  when  he  took 
part  in  the  book-hunting  expeditions  of  the  Duke 
of  Devonshire,  the  Earls  of  Oxford,  Sunderland, 
and  other  collectors,  who  amused  themselves 
every  Saturday  during  the  winter  in  rambling 
through  various  quarters  of  the  town  in  search 
of  additions  to  their  libraries.  After  Bagford's 
death  Hearne  was  very  anxious  to  obtain  his 
collections,  as  he  wished  to  publish  'a  book 
from  them,  for  the  service  of  the  public,  and 
the  honour  of  Mr.  Bagford,'  but  much  to  his 
chagrin  he  was  forestalled  by  Wanley,  Lord 
Oxford's  librarian,  who  acquired  them  for  his 
employer's  library,  and  they  formed  part  of  the 
Harleian  Manuscripts,  etc.,  purchased  in  1753  for 
the  British  Museum.  Wanley,  however,  does  not 
appear  to  have  secured  the  whole  of  Bagford's 
papers,  as  the  Sloane  collection  contains  four 
volumes  of  manuscripts  and  printed  matter  which 


JOHN  BAGFORD  135 

belonged  to  him,  and  the  Bodleian  Library 
possesses  some  Indulgences  which  he  acquired 
and  gave  to  Hearne. 

The  Bagford  collections  in  the  British  Museum 
consist  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine *  volumes, 
including  three  of  ballads.  The  manuscript  pieces 
are  contained  in  thirty-six  folios ;  the  printed 
pieces  in  sixty-three  folios,  twenty-one  quartos, 
and  nine  octavos.  Among  the  more  important 
manuscripts  are  Bagford's  Commonplace  Book ; 
his  Book  of  Accounts ;  his  Account  of  Public 
and  Private  Libraries  ;  Collections  in  reference  to 
Printing ;  Names  of  old  English  Printers,  with 
lists  of  the  works  which  passed  through  their 
hands ;  an  Account  of  Paper ;  Patents  granted 
to  Printers  in  England ;  Observations  on  the 
History  of  Printing ;  Lives  of  famous  Engravers, 
etc.  The  collection  also  contains  a  large  number 
of  fragments  of  early  Bibles,  Service  Books, 
Decretals,  Lives  of  Saints,  etc.  These  are 
almost  entirely  of  vellum,  and  some  of  them  are 
as  early  as  the  eighth  century. 

Among  the  printed  fragments  is  a  leaf  from 
the  Gutenberg  Bible,2  portions  of  the  Recuyell 
of  the  Histories  of  Troy,  the  Polychronicon,  the 
Book  of  Fame,  and  many  other  books  from  the 
presses  of  Caxton,  Machlinia,  Rood  and  Hunte, 

1  It  is  somewhat  doubtful  whether  a  few  of  these  belonged  to  Bagford. 

2  Probably  given  to  Bagford  by  Michael  Maittaire,  the  collector,  who 
possessed  a  very  imperfect  copy  of  the  Gutenberg  Bible,  which  sold  for  fifty 
shillings  at  the  sale  of  his  library. 


i36         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Pynson,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  and  other  early 
printers,  both  English  and  foreign. 

The  maps  in  the  collection  are  especially 
important  and  interesting,  including  a  very  rare- 
one  sometimes  found  in  Hakluyt's  Navigations 
and  Discoveries  of  tJic  English  Nation,  printed 
in  the  years  1599  and  1600,  and  worth  at  least 
two  hundred  pounds ;  *  and  the  even  more 
valuable  celestial  and  terrestrial  planispheres  by 
John  Blagrave  of  Reading,  which  are  believed 
to  be  unique.  There  are  also  some  rare  docu- 
ments relating  to  the  Post  Office;  a  number 
of  early  book-plates ;  some  fine  specimens  of 
English,  French,  and  German  stamped  bind- 
ings of  the  sixteenth  century ;  several  volumes 
of  Chinese,  marbled,  and  other  papers ;  early 
almanacks ;  a  quantity  of  engravings  of  towns, 
costumes,  trades,  furniture,  etc. ;  curious  adver- 
tisements of  tobacco,  tea,  quack  medicines, 
etc. ;  specimens  of  fine  writing ;  and  many  other 
miscellaneous  papers  of  much  interest. 

Bagford  was  the  author  of  a  letter  on  the 
antiquities  of  London,  prefixed  to  the  first 
volume  of  Hearne's  edition  of  Leland's  Col- 
lectanea ;  and  also  of  an  Account  of  London 
Libraries,  first  printed  in  1708  in  The 
Monthly     Miscellany,     or    Memoirs    for     the 

1  This  is  believed  to  be  the  map  alluded  to  by  Shakespeare*  in  Act.  iii. 
Sc.  2  of  Twelfth  Night,  where  he  makes  Maria  say  of  Malvolio  :  '  He  does 
smile  his  face  into  more  lines  than  there  are  in  the  new  map,  with  the 
augmentation  of  the  Indies.' 


EARL  OF  PEMBROKE  137 

Curious.  This  little  brochure  was  continued 
by  Oldys,  and  the  complete  work  published 
by  Mr.  James  Yeowell  in  1862.  The  Essay  on 
the  Invention  of  Printing,  by  Mr.  fohn  Bagford, 
in  vol.  xxv.  of  the  Philosophical  Transactions 
of  the  Royal  Society,  was,  Dibdin  says,  drawn 
up  by  Wanley.  The  collection  of  ballads  has 
been  edited  by  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Ebsworth  for  the 
Ballad  Society. 


THOMAS  HERBERT,  EIGHTH  EARL 
OF  PEMBROKE,   1656-1733 

Thomas  Herbert,  eighth  Earl  of  Pembroke, 
who  was  born  in  1656,  was  the  third  son  of 
Philip,  the  fifth  Earl.  By  the  deaths  of  his  elder 
brothers,  the  sixth  and  seventh  Earls,  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  title  in  1683,  and  from  that  time  to 
his  death  in  1733  he  held  many  of  the  highest 
appointments  in  the  State.  He  was  one  of  the 
representatives  of  England  at  the  treaty  of  Rys- 
wick,  and  he  carried  the  Sword  of  Justice  at  the 
coronations  of  William  and  Mary,  Anne,  George  1. 
and  George  11.  He  was  also  President  of  the 
Royal  Society  in  1689-90. 

Many  of  the  Earls  of  Pembroke  were  men  of 
culture  and  patrons  of  learning.  In  1629  William, 
the  third  Earl,  gave  to  the  University  of  Oxford, 
of  which  he  was  Chancellor,  a  very  valuable  series 


tj8  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

of  Greek  manuscripts  collected  by  Giacomo 
Barocci,  a  gentleman  of  Venice;  and  in  1649  n*s 
brother  Philip,  the  fourth  Earl,  gave  to  the  same 
University,  of  which  he  was  also  Chancellor,  a 
splendidly  bound  copy  of  the  Paris  Polyglot 
Bible,  printed  in  1645  m  nme  volumes.  These 
two  brothers  are  'the  incomparable  pair  of 
brethren  '  to  whom  the  first  folio  of  Shakespeare 
is  dedicated.  There  had  been  for  several  genera- 
tions a  library  at  Wilton  House,  Salisbury,  which 
Dibdin  considered  to  be  one  of  the  oldest  of 
private  collections  existing ;  but  Thomas,  the 
eighth  Earl,  added  to  it  so  large  a  number  of 
rare  books  that  it  'entitled  him  to  dispute  the 
palm  even  with  the  Lords  Sunderland  and 
Oxford.'  Maittaire,  'mhissfu/ia/es  Typograpliici, 
calls  the  library  a  '  Bibliotheca  exquisitissima,' 
and  styles  its  owner  '  Humanitatis  politioris 
cultor  et  patronus.'  Dibdin  also  states  that  Lord 
Pembroke  spared  no  expense  for  books,  and  that 
he  was  'a  collector  of  everything  the  most 
precious  and  rare  in  the  book-way.'  The  library 
was  still  further  augmented  by  his  successor 
Henry. 

Dr.  Dampier,  Bishop  of  Ely,  compiled  a  list 
in  1776  of  the  earlier  printed  works  in  the  library, 
which  Dibdin  has  reproduced  in  his  Decameron. 
The  books  are  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine  in 
number,  of  which  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
are  of  the  fifteenth  century.     The  list  contains 


NARCISSUS  LUTTRELL  139 

eight  Caxtons,  eighteen  volumes  printed  by 
Jenson,  and  ten  by  the  Spiras.  Among  the 
most  notable  of  the  incunabula  are  the  Rationale 
Divinorum  Officiorum  of  Durandus,  on  vellum, 
printed  by  Fust  and  SchoefTer  at  Mentz  in  1459  ; 
the  Catholicon  of  Balbus,  printed  at  Mentz  in 
1460;  Cicero  de  Oratore,  printed  by  Sweynheym 
and  Pannartz  at  the  Monastery  of  Subiaco  in 
1465;  Cicero's  Epistolce  ad  Familiar es,  printed 
by  Joannes  de  Spira  at  Venice  in  1469 ;  and  the 
Bokys  of  Hawkyng  and  Huntyng,  printed  at 
St.  Albans  in  i486.  The  Caxtons  are  The 
Recuyell  of  the  Histories  of  Troy ;  the  first  and 
second  editions  of  The  Game  of  the  Chesse ;  the 
first  edition  of  The  Dictes  or  Sayings  of  the 
Philosophers,  Tully  of  Old  Age,  Chronicles  of 
England,  the  Polychronicon,  and  the  Liber 
Aestivalis. 


NARCISSUS  LUTTRELL,  1657-1732 

Narcissus  Luttrell,  who  was  born  in  1657, 
was  the  son  of  Francis  Luttrell  of  London,  a 
descendant  of  the  Luttrells  of  Dunster  Castle, 
in  the  county  of  Somerset.  He  received  his 
early  education  under  Mr.  Aldrich  at  Sheen  in 
Surrey,  and  in  1674  was  admitted  a  fellow- 
commoner  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.  In 
the  succeeding  year  he  was  created  M. A.  by  royal 


i4o         ENGLISH    BOOK  COLLECTORS 

mandate.1  While  at  the  University  he  presented 
a  silver  tankard  to  his  college,  which  was  lost, 
together  with  a  quantity  of  other  plate,  on  the 
9th  of  October  1693,  for  the  recovery  of  which  a 
reward  of  ten  pounds  was  offered.2  Luttrell,  who, 
Dibdin  says,  was  'ever  ardent  in  his  love  of  past 
learning,  and  not  less  voracious  in  his  biblio- 
maniacal  appetites,'  formed  an  extensive  library 
at  Shaftesbury  House,  Little  Chelsea,  where  he 
resided  for  many  years  in  seclusion.  Hearne 
speaks  of  it  'as  a  very  extraordinary  collection,' 
and  adds  that '  in  it  are  many  manuscripts,  which. 
however,  he  had  not  the  spirit  to  communicate  to 
the  world,  and  'twas  a  mortification  to  him  to  see 
the  world  gratified  without  his  assistance.'  A 
special  feature  of  the  library  was  the  large  and 
interesting  collection  of  fugitive  pieces  issued 
during  the  reigns  of  Charles  11.,  James  11.,  William 
in.,  and  Anne,  which  Luttrell  purchased  day  by 
day  as  they  appeared.  Sir  Walter  Scott  found 
this  collection,  which  in  his  time  was  chiefly 
in  the  possession  of  the  collectors  Mr.  Heber 
and  Mr.  Bindley,  very  useful  when  editing  the 
Works  of  Dryden,  published  in  eighteen  volumes 
at  London  in  1808.  In  the  preface  he  remarks 
that  '  the  industrious  collector  seems  to  have 
bought  every  poetical  tract,  of  whatever  merit, 
which  was  hawked   through  the   streets   in    his 

1  Notts  and  Queries.     Second  Series.     VoL  xii.,  page  78. 
'  See  Londtm  C,,t:ette,  October  16-19,  '693. 


NARCISSUS  LUTTRELL  141 

time,  marking  carefully  the  price  and  date  of 
purchase.  His  collection  contains  the  earliest 
editions  of  many  of  our  most  excellent  poems, 
bound  up,  according  to  the  order  of  time,  with  the 
lowest  trash  of  Grub  Street.'  On  Luttrell's  death, 
which  took  place  at  his  residence  in  Chelsea  on 
the  27th  of  June  1732,  the  collection  became  the 
property  of  Francis  Luttrell  (presumed  to  be  his 
son),  who  died  in  1740.  It  afterwards  passed 
into  the  possession  of  Mr.  Serjeant  Wynne,  and 
from  him  descended  to  Edward  Wynne,  his  eldest 
son,  the  author  of  Etmomtis,  or  Dialogues  con- 
cerning the  Law  and  Constitution  of  England ; 
and  a  Miscellany  containing  several  law  tracts, 
published  at  London  in  1 765.  He  died  a  bachelor 
in  1784,  and  the  library,  which  had  been  con- 
siderably enlarged  by  its  later  possessors,  was 
inherited  by  his  brother,  the  Rev.  Luttrell 
Wynne,  of  All  Souls'  College,  Oxford,  by  whose 
direction  it  was  sold  by  auction  by  Leigh  and 
Sotheby  in  1786.  The  sale,  which  consisted  of 
two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-six  lots, 
commenced  on  March  6th,  and  lasted  twelve  days. 
It  is  stated  in  the  catalogue  that  'great  part  of  the 
library  was  formed  by  an  Eminent  and  Curious 
Collector  in  the  last  Century,  and  comprehends  a 
fine  Suite  of  Historical,  Classical,  Mathematical, 
Natural  History,  Poetical  and  Miscellaneous 
Books,  in  all  Arts  and  Sciences  ...  by  the 
most    Eminent    Printers,    Rob.    Steph.,    Morell, 


i42         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Aldus,  Elzevir,  Caxton,  Wynkyn  de  Worde, 
&c.  &c.  Also  a  very  curious  Collection  of  old 
I  English  Romances,  and  old  Poetry;  with  a  great 
number  of  scarce  Pamphlets  during  the  Great 
Rebellion  and  the  Protectorate.'  Various  portion  I 
of  the  Luttrell  collections  were  bought  by  Messrs. 
Heber  and  Bindley.  The  greater  part  of  those 
purchased  by  Mr.  Bindley  were  eventually 
acquired  by  the  British  Museum  at  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham's  sale  in  1849,  while  those  which 
belonged  to  Mr.  Heber  are  now  to  be  found  on 
the  shelves  of  the  Britwell  library.  Dibdin 
informs  us  that  'a  great  number  of  poetical 
tracts  was  disposed  of,  previous  to  the  sale,  to 
Dr.  Farmer,  who  gave  not  more  than  forty  guineas 
for  them.'  Two  Caxton s  in  the  sale — the  Mir r our 
of  the  World  and  Caton — fetched  respectively 
five  guineas  and  four  guineas,  and  a  collection 
of  plays,  in  twenty-one  volumes,  by  Gascoigne, 
Dekker,  etc.,  sold  for  thirty-eight  pounds,  seven- 
teen shillings. 

Luttrell  compiled  a  chronicle  of  contemporary 
events,  which  was  frequently  quoted  by  Lord 
Macaulay  in  his  History  of  England.  This 
remained  in  manuscript  for  many  years  in  the 
library  of  All  Souls'  College,  Oxford,  but  in  1857 
it  was  printed  in  six  volumes  by  the  Delegates  of 
the  University  Press  under  the  title  of  A  Brief 
Historical  Relation  of  State  Affairs  from 
September  1678   to  April   17 14.      He   also   left 


Sir  Hans  Sloaxe,  Bart. 


SIR  HANS  SLOANE  143 

a  personal  diary  in  English,  but  whimsically 
written  in  Greek  characters,  consisting  principally 
of  entries  recording  the  hours  of  his  rising  and 
going  to  bed,  the  manner  in  which  he  spent  his 
time,  what  friends  called  to  see  him,  the  sermons 
he  heard,  where  and  how  he  dined,  and  the 
occasions,  which  were  not  infrequent,  when  he 
took  too  much  wine.  This  manuscript  is  pre- 
served in  the  British  Museum  (Add.  ms.  10447). 


SIR  HANS  SLOANE,  Bart.,  1660-1753 

Sir  Hans  Sloane,  Bart.,  was  born  on  the  16th 
of  April  1660  at  Killileagh,  County  Down,  Ire- 
land. His  father,  Alexander  Sloane,  was  a 
Scotchman,  who  had  settled  in  Ireland  on  his 
appointment  to  the  post  of  receiver-general 
of  the  estates  of  Lord  Claneboy,  afterwards 
Earl  of  Clanricarde.1  Hans  Sloane  gave  early 
indications  of  unusual  ability,  and  as  soon  as 
his  health,  which  was  delicate,  would  permit, 
he  came  to  London,  and  devoted  himself  to  the 
study  of  medicine,  and  the  kindred  sciences  of 
chemistry  and  botany.  In  1683  he  went  to 
Paris,  which  at  that  time  possessed  greater 
facilities  for  medical  education  than  could  be 
found  in  London.  Having  taken  the  degree 
of    Doctor  of    Medicine    in    the   University  of 

1  Edwards,  Lives  of  Founders  of  the  British  Museum,  p.  274. 


i44         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Orange  in  July  1683,  he  made  a  tour  in  France, 
and  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1684  he  re- 
turned to  England  and  settled  in  London.  In 
1685  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society, 
and  in  1687  he  was  admitted  a  Fellow  of  the 
College  of  Physicians.  His  love  for  scientific 
research  led  him  to  accept  the  offer  of  the  post 
of  physician  to  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,  who  had 
been  recently  appointed  Governor-General  of  the 
West  India  Colonies.  He  was  also  appointed 
physician  to  the  West  Indian  fleet.  He  set  sail 
for  Jamaica  on  the  12th  of  September  1687,  and 
reached  Port  Royal  on  the  19th  of  December; 
but  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  the  Duke, 
which  took  place  towards  the  end  of  the  following 
year,  Sloane  returned  to  England  in  May  1689, 
bringing  with  him  large  collections  in  all  branches 
of  natural  history,  which  he  had  obtained  in 
Madeira,  as  well  as  in  Jamaica  and  other  West 
Indian  islands.  In  1693  Sloane  was  appointed 
to  the  Secretaryship  of  the  Royal  Society,  and 
in  1727  he  had  the  honour  of  succeeding  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  as  President.  His  professional 
career  was  a  very  successful  one.  In  17 12  he 
was  made  Physician-Extraordinary  to  Queen 
Anne,  whom  he  attended  during  her  last  illness ; 
and  in  17 16  he  was  created  a  baronet  by  King 
George  1.,  who  also  bestowed  on  him  the  post 
of  Physician-General  to  the  Forces.  On  the 
accession   of   King   George  11.   in    1727   he   was 


SIR  HANS  SLOANE  145 

appointed  First  Physician  to  the  King.  He  was 
elected  President  of  the  College  of  Physicians 
in  1 719,  and  held  the  office  till  1735.  In  1741 
he  removed  his  museum  and  library  from  his 
residence  in  Great  Russell  Street,  Bloomsbury, 
to  the  fine  old  manor-house  of  Chelsea,  which 
he  had  purchased  from  the  family  of  Cheyne. 
Here  he  spent  his  time  in  the  society  of  his 
friends,  and  in  enriching  and  arranging  the 
treasures  he  had  collected.  He  died  after  a  short 
illness  on  the  nth  of  January  1753,  in  the 
ninety-third  year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried  in 
Chelsea  church,  where  a  monument  was  erected 
to  his  memory  by  his  daughters.  Sir  Hans 
Sloane  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  and  heiress 
of  Alderman  Langley,  and  widow  of  Fulk  Rose 
of  Jamaica,  by  whom  he  had  four  children,  two 
of  whom  died  young.  Sarah,  the  elder  of  the 
two  daughters  who  survived  their  father,  married 
George  Stanley  of  Poultons,  Hampshire ;  the 
younger,  Elizabeth,  married  Colonel  Charles 
Cadogan,  afterwards  second  Baron  Cadogan. 

A  table  drawn  up  by  Sloane's  trustees  im- 
mediately after  his  death  shows  that,  in  addition 
to  his  splendid  natural  history  museum,  his 
collections  comprised  between  forty  and  fifty 
thousand  printed  books,  three  thousand  five 
hundred     and     sixteen     manuscripts,1    and    six 

1  There  are  4100  volumes  of  Sloane  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum.    A 
catalogue  of  them,  compiled  by  the  Rev.  S.  Ayscough,  was  printed  in  1782. 

T 


1 46         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

hundred  and  fifty-seven  pictures  and  drawings. 
The  coins  and  medals  amounted  to  thirty-two 
thousand,  and  other  antiquities  to  two  thousand 
six  hundred  and  thirty-five.  Sir  Hans  Sloane 
expressed  a  desire  in  his  will  that  his  collection 
in  all  its  branches  might  be  kept  and  preserved 
together  after  his  decease,  and  that  an  application 
should  be  made  by  his  trustees  to  Parliament 
for  its  purchase  for  twenty  thousand  pounds,  a 
sum  which  did  not  represent  more  than  a  fourth 
of  its  real  value.  This  application  was  favour- 
ably received,  and  in  June  1753  an  Act  was 
passed,  '  For  the  purchase  of  the  Museum,  or 
Collection  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  and  of  the 
Harleian  Collection  of  Manuscripts ;  and  for 
providing  one  general  repository  for  the  better 
reception  and  more  convenient  use  of  the  said 
Collections;  and  of  the  Cottonian  Library,  and 
of  the  additions  thereto.'  The  Act  further 
enacted  that  a  board,  consisting  of  forty-two 
trustees,  be  appointed  for  putting  the  same  into 
execution  ;  and  at  a  general  meeting  of  this  body, 
held  at  the  Cockpit,  at  Whitehall,  on  the  3rd 
of  April  1754,  it  was  resolved  to  accept  of  a 
proposal  which  had  been  made  to  them,  of 
the  '  Capital  Mansion  House,  called  Montague 
House,  and  the  freehold  ground  thereto  be- 
longing, for  the  general  repository  of  the  British 
Museum,  on  the  terms  of  ten  thousand  pounds.' ■ 

1  Sims,  Handbook  to  the  Library  of  the  British  Museum,  p.  2. 


PETER  LE  NEVE  147 

Although  the  Act  had  been  passed,  considerable 
difficulty  was  experienced  in  finding  the  purchase- 
money.  When  the  matter  was  brought  before 
George  n.  he  dismissed  it  with  the  remark,  '  I 
don't  think  there  are  twenty  thousand  pounds 
in  the  Treasury ' ;  and  eventually  it  was  pro- 
posed that  the  needful  sum  should  be  raised  by 
a  public  lottery,  which  should  consist  of  'a 
hundred  thousand  shares,  at  three  pounds  a 
share ;  that  two  hundred  thousand  pounds  should 
be  allotted  as  prizes,  and  that  the  remaining 
hundred  thousand — less  the  expenses  of  the 
lottery  itself — should  be  applied  to  the  threefold 
purposes  of  the  Act,  namely,  the  purchase  of  the 
Sloane  and  Harleian  Collections ;  the  providing 
of  a  Repository ;  and  the  creation  of  an  annual 
income  for  future  maintenance.'1  Sir  Hans 
Sloane's  principal  work  was  the  Natural  History 
of  Jamaica,  2  vols.,  London,  1707-25,  which 
occupied  him  for  no  less  than  thirty-eight  years. 

PETER  LE  NEVE,  1661-1729 

Peter  Le  Neve  was  the  son  of  Francis  Neve 
(the  Le  had  been  dropped  for  several  generations, 
when  Peter  resumed  the  ancient  form  of  his 
name),  a  citizen  and  draper  of  London.  He  was 
born  in  London  in  1661,  and  was  educated  at 
Merchant  Taylors'  School.     From  an  early  age 

1  Edwards,  Lives  of  the  Founders  of  the  British  Museum,  p.  308. 


i48         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

he  displayed  a  great  love  of  antiquarian  pursuits, 
and  in  1707,  when  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  was 
reconstituted,  he  was  chosen  the  first  President, 
which  office  he  held  until  1724.  He  was  also  a 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society.  On  the  17th  of 
January  1690,  Le  Neve  was  appointed  Rouge- 
Croix  Pursuivant;  on  April  the  5th  1704,  Rich- 
mond Herald  ;  and  on  the  25th  of  the  succeeding 
month  Norroy  King-at-Arms.  He  died  on  the 
24th  of  September  1729,  and  was  buried  in  the 
chancel  of  Great  Witchingham  Church,  Norfolk. 
Oldys  states  that  Le  Neve  had  '  a  vast  treasure 
of  Historical  Antiquities,  consisting  of  about 
2000  printed  books  and  above  1200  mss.,  inter- 
spersed with  many  notes  of  his  own.'  Oldys  also 
mentions  that  '  it  is  said  that  he  had  some  pique 
with  the  Heralds'  Orifice  a  little  before  his  death, 
so  cut  them  off  with  a  single  book,  otherwise  he 
had  left  them  the  whole  of  his  library.'1 

'  Honest  Tom  Martin  of  Palgrave,'  the  anti- 
quary, who  was  Le  Neve's  executor,  and  who 
married  his  widow,  appears  to  have  succeeded  to 
the  bulk  of  Le  Neve's  collections.  They  were 
sold  by  auction  in  1731.  The  title-page  of  the 
sale  catalogue  reads: — 'A  Catalogue  of  the 
valuable  library  collected  by  that  truly  Laborious 
Antiquary,  Peter  Le  Neve,  Esq. ;  Norroy  King 
of  Arms  (lately  deceas'd),  containing  most  of  the 
Books  relating  to  the  History  and  Antiquities 

Memoir  of  Oldys,  etc.     London,  1862,  p.  76. 


PETER  LE  NEVE  149 

of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  many  other 
nations.  With  more  than  a  thousand  Manu- 
scripts of  Abstracts  of  Records,  etc.,  Heraldry, 
and  other  Sciences,  several  of  which  are  very 
antient,  and  written  on  Vellum.  Also,  a  great 
number  of  Pedigrees  of  Noble  Families,  etc. 
With  many  other  Curiosities.  Which  will  be 
Sold  by  Auction  the  22nd  Day  of  February 
1 730- 1  at  the  Bedford  Coffee-house,  in  the  Great 
Piazza,  Covent  Garden.  Beginning  every  Even- 
ing at  Five  a-Clock.  By  John  Wilcox,  Bookseller 
in  Little  Britain.' 

The  sale  appears  to  have  lasted  about  a  fort- 
night, and  was  followed  by  a  small  supplementary 
one  on  March  the  19th,  of  '  Some  Curiosities 
and  Manuscripts  omitted  in  the  previous  Cata- 
logue.' A  copy  of  the  sale  catalogue,  with  the 
prices  and  the  names  of  some  of  the  purchasers  in 
manuscript,  is  to  be  found  in  the  British  Museum. 

Although  Le  Neve  was  an  ardent  collector 
and  compiled  a  considerable  number  of  works  on 
heraldry  and  topography,  many  of  which  are 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  the  Bodleian 
Library,  Heralds'  College,  and  the  Record  Office, 
he  does  not  appear  to  have  printed  anything. 
His  list  of  Pedigrees  of  Knights  made  by  King 
Charles  //.,  King  James  II,  King  William  III. 
and  Queen  Mary,  King  William  alone,  and 
Queen  Anne,  was  edited  by  Dr.  G.  W.  Marshall 
for  the  Harleian  Society  in  1873. 


ISO         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


ROBERT  HARLEY,  FIRST  EARL  OF 
OXFORD,   1661-1724 

AND 

EDWARD  HARLEY,  SECOND  EARL  OF 
OXFORD,  1689-1741 

Robert  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford,  who  was  born 
in  Bow  Street,  Coven t  Garden,  on  the  5th  of 
December  1661,  was  the  eldest  son  of  Sir  Edward 
Harley,  K.B.,  who  was  Governor  of  Dunkirk 
after  the  Restoration.  Entering  Parliament  in 
1689,  in  1 70 1  he  was  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Commons;  in  1710  he  was  appointed 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and  in  171 1  he  was 
created  Earl  of  Oxford  and  Earl  Mortimer,  and 
made  Lord  High  Treasurer,  from  which  post  he 
was  dismissed  in  17 14.  In  1 713  he  received  the 
Order  of  the  Garter.  He  was  impeached  by  the 
House  of  Commons  in  1715 ;  acquitted  without 
being  brought  to  a  trial  in  17 17,  and  died  at  his 
house  in  Albemarle  Street,  London,  on  the  21st 
of  May  1724. 

Harley  was  the  greatest  collector  of  his  time, 
and  formed  a  splendid  library,  which,  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  besides  the  printed  books,  contained 
more  than  six  thousand  volumes  of  manuscripts, 
and  an  immense  number  of  charters,  rolls,  and 


ROBERT  AND  EDWARD  HARLEY       151 

deeds.  This  noble  collection  was  inherited  by 
Lord  Oxford's  son  Edward,  second  Earl,  by 
whom  it  was  very  considerably  augmented  in 
every  department ;  and  when  he  died  in  June 
1 74 1,  the  volumes  of  manuscripts  amounted  to 


One  of  the  Book-plates  of  Robert  Harley  as  a  Commoner. 

seven  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-nine 
volumes,  exclusive  of  fourteen  thousand  two 
hundred  and  thirty-six  original  rolls,  deeds, 
charters,  and  other  legal  documents.  The  printed 
books  were   estimated  at  about   fifty  thousand 


i52         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

volumes,  the  pamphlets  at  about  three  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand,  and  the  prints  at  forty-one 
thousand.  In  the  Account  of  London  Libraries, 
by  Bagford  and  Oldys,  it  is  stated  : — 

1  For  libraries  in  more  expressly  particular 
hands,  the  first  and  most  universal  in  England, 
must  be  reckoned  the  Harleian,  or  Earl  of  Oxford's 


ROBERTS 


Robert  Habley's  Book-stamp. 


library,  begun  by  his  father  and  continued  by 
himself.  He  has  the  rarest  books  of  all  countries, 
languages,  and  sciences,  and  the  greatest  number 
of  any  collector  we  ever  had,  in  manuscript  as 
well  as  in  print,  thousands  of  fragments,  some  a 
thousand  years  old ;  vellum  books,  some  written 
over;  all  things  especially  respecting  English 
History,  personal  as  well  as  local,  particular  as 
well  as  general.  He  has  a  great  collection  of 
Bibles,  etc.,  in  all  versions,  and  editions  of  all  the 


ROBERT  AND  EDWARD  HARLEY       153 

first  printed  books,  classics,  and  others  of  our 
own  country,  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  civil,  by 
Caxton,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  Pynson,  Berthelet, 
Rastall,  Grafton,  and  the  greatest  number  of 
pamphlets  and  prints  of  English  heads  of  any 
other  person.  Abundance  of  ledgers,  chartularies, 
old  deeds,  charters,  patents,  grants,  covenants, 
pedigrees,  inscriptions,  etc.,  and  original  letters 
of  eminent  persons,  as  many  as  would  fill  two 
hundred  volumes ;  all  the  collections  of  his 
librarian  Humphrey  Wanley,  of  Stow,  Sir 
Symonds  D'Ewes,  Prynne,  Bishop  Stillingfleet, 
John  Bagford,  Le  Neve,  and  the  flower  of  a 
hundred  other  libraries.' 

The  library  was  remarkably  rich  in  early 
editions  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics  (there 
were  as  many  as  one  hundred  and  fifteen  volumes 
of  various  works  by  Cicero  printed  in  the  fifteenth 
century),  English  early  poetry  and  romances,  and 
books  of  prints,  sculpture  and  drawings.  The 
collection  of  Caxtons  was  both  large  and  fine, 
and  it  comprised  the  only  perfect  copy  known  of 
the  Book  of  the  Noble  Histories  of  King  Arthur, 
which,  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  after  the 
dispersion  of  the  Harleian  library,  was  purchased 
for  nineteen  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  at  the  sale 
of  the  Earl  of  Jersey's  books  in  1885,  by  Mr. 
Quaritch  for  a  New  York  collector. 

The  volumes  in  the  library  were  all  hand- 
somely bound  ;  mostly  in  red  morocco,  and  tooled 

u 


i54  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

with  a  distinctive  kind  of  ornamentation,  which 
has  since  been  known  as  the  Harleian  Style.  This 
commonly  consisted  of  a  centrepiece,  generally 
of  a  lozenge  form,  surrounded  by  a  broad  and 
elegant  border.  Eliot  and  Chapman  were  the 
binders  of  the  greater  portion  of  the  books,  at  a 
cost,  it  is  said,  of  upwards  of  eighteen  thousand 
pounds. 

Humphrey  Wanley  was  for  several  years 
librarian  to  both  the  first  and  the  second  Earls, 
and  he  commenced  the  compilation  of  the  cata- 
logue of  the  manuscripts,  which  was  finally 
completed  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hartwell  Home 
in  1812.  Among  the  Lansdowne  manuscripts  in 
the  British  Museum  is  a  diary,1  kept  by  Wanley, 
which  contains  much  interesting  information 
respecting  the  library.  Some  time  after  Wanley's 
decease,  William  Oldys  was  appointed  librarian 
at  a  salary  of  two  hundred  pounds  per  annum. 

The  second  Earl  of  Oxford  had  a  passion  for 
building  and  landscape  gardening,  as  well  as  for 
collecting  books,  paintings  and  curiosities,  and 
some  years  before  his  death  these  expensive  tastes 
involved  him  in  pecuniary  difficulties.  George 
Vertue,  the  eminent  engraver,  in  one  of  his  com- 
monplace-books, now  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum,2  thus  feelingly  refers  to  the  embarrassed 
circumstances  of  the  Earl : — '  My  good  Lord, 
lately  growing  heavy  and  pensive  in  his  affairs, 

1  Lansdowne  MSS.  771,  772.  2  Add.  MS.  23,093. 


ROBERT  AND  EDWARD  HARLEY       155 

which  for  some  late  years  have  mortify'd  his  mind. 
.  .  .  This  lately  manifestly  appeared  in  his 
change  of  complexion ;  his  face  fallen  less ;  his 
colour  and  eyes  turned  yellow  to  a  great  degree  ; 
his  stomach  wasted  and  gone  ;  and  a  dead  weight 
presses  continually,  without  sign  of  relief,  on  his 
mind.' 

A  fortnight  after  this  was  written  Vertue  had 
to  lament  his  loss. 

Lord  Oxford  died  in  Dover  Street,  London, 
on  the  16th  of  June  1741,  and  on  his  decease  the 
library  became  the  property  of  Margaret,  Duchess 
of  Portland,  the  only  daughter  and  heiress  of  the 
Earl,  who  sold  the  printed  books  to  Mr.  Thomas 
Osborne,  the  bookseller  of  Gray's  Inn,  for  about 
thirteen  thousand  pounds.  The  manuscripts 
were  purchased  by  Parliament  in  1753  for  the 
sum  of  ten  thousand  pounds,  and  were  placed 
in  the  library  of  the  British  Museum  four  years 
later.  The  portraits,  coins,  and  miscellaneous 
curiosities  were  sold  by  auction  in  March  1742. 

Osborne  bought  Lord  Oxford's  books  with 
a  view  of  disposing  of  them  by  sale,  and 
engaged  Dr.  Johnson  and  Oldys  to  compile  a 
catalogue  of  them,  which  was  printed  in  four 
volumes  octavo  in  the  years  1743-44.  A  fifth 
volume  was  issued  in  1745,  but  this  is  nothing 
more  than  an  enumeration  of  Osborne's  unsold 
stock.  Osborne  also  published  in  eight  volumes 
quarto,    '  The  Harleian  Miscellany :  or,  a  Col- 


156         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

lection  of  Scarce,  Curious,  attd  Entertaining 
Pamphlets  and  Tracts,  as  well  as  in  Manuscript 
as  in  Print,  found  in  the  late  Earl  of  Oxford's 
library,  interspersed  with  Historical,  Political  and 
Critical  notes.  London  1744-46/  This  work, 
which  was  edited  by  Oldys,  was  republished  by 
Thomas  Park  in  1808-12,  with  two  supplemental 
volumes.  A  catalogue  of  the  pamphlets  contained 
in  the  Harleian  Miscellany  was  also  prepared  by 
Oldys,  and  printed  in  a  quarto  volume,  which 
appeared  in  1746;  and  a  Collection  of  Voyages 
and  Travels,  compiled  from  the  Miscellany,  was 
published  in  two  volumes  folio  in  1745. 


JOHN  BRIDGES,  1666-1724 

John  Bridges,  the  author  of  The  History  and 
Antiquities  of  Northamptonshire,  was  born  in 
1666  at  Barton  Seagrave,  Northamptonshire. 
He  was  appointed  Solicitor  of  the  Customs  in 
1695,  a  Commissioner  of  the  Customs  in  171 1, 
and  in  171 5  a  Cashier  of  the  Excise.  He  was  a 
Bencher  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  and  a  Fellow  of  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries.  He  died  on  the  16th  of 
March  1724. 

Bridges,  who  is  mentioned  with  great  respect 
by  Hearne  and  other  antiquaries,  was,  says 
Dibdin,  '  a  gentleman,  a  scholar,  and  a  notorious 
book-collector.'     His  library,  which  consisted  of 


JOHN  BRIDGES  157 

'above  4000  Books  and  Manuscripts  in  all  lan- 
guages and  faculties,  particularly  in  Classics 
and  History,  and  especially  the  History  and 
Antiquities  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,'1  was 
sold  at  his  chambers,  No.  6  Lincoln's  Inn, 
by  Mr.  Cock,  on  the  7th  of  February  1726, 
and  twenty-six  following  days.  The  number 
of  lots  was  four  thousand  three  hundred  and 
thirteen,  and  the  total  proceeds  of  the  sale  were 
four  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds, 
twelve  shillings.  The  books  sold  well,  and 
Hearne,  in  his  Diary,  under  February  15th, 
1726,  writes  :  ■  My  late  friend  John  Bridges  esqr.'s 
books  being  now  selling  by  auction  in  London 
(they  began  to  be  sold  on  Monday  the  7th  inst.). 
I  hear  they  go  very  high,  being  fair  books,  in 
good  condition,  and  most  of  them  finely  bound. 
This  afternoon  I  was  told  of  a  gentleman  of  All 
Souls'  College,  I  suppose  Dr.  Clarke,  that  gave 
a  commission  of  8s.  for  an  Homer  in  2  vols.,  a 
small  8°  if  not  120.  But  it  went  for  six  guineas. 
People  are  in  love  with  good  binding  more  than 
good  reading.'  Humphrey  Wanley,  who  was  a 
buyer  at  the  sale  for  Lord  Oxford's  library,  was 
much  dissatisfied  with  the  large  sums  which  the 
books  fetched,  and  suspected  there  was  a  con- 
spiracy to  run  up  the  prices.  He  writes  in  his 
Diary  (February  9,  1725-26):  'Went  to  Mr. 
Bridges's  chambers,  but  could  not  see  the  three 

1    Description  of  library  in  sale  catalogue. 


158         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

fine  mss.  again,  the  Doctor  his  brother  having 
locked  them  up.  He  openly  bid  for  his  own 
books,  merely  to  enhance  their  price,  and  the 
auction  proves  to  be,  what  I  thought  it  would 
become,  very  knavish';  and  on  the  nth  of 
February  he  adds :  '  Yesterday  at  five  I  met 
Mr.  Noel  and  tarried  long  with  him ;  we  settled 
then  the  whole  affair  touching  his  bidding  for  my 
Lord  [Oxford]  at  the  roguish  auction  of  Mr. 
Bridges's  books.  The  Reverend  Doctor  one  of 
the  brothers  hath  already  displayed  himself  so 
remarkably  as  to  be  both  hated  and  despised,  and 
a  combination  among  the  booksellers  will  soon 
be  against  him  and  his  brother-in-law,  a  lawyer. 
These  are  men  of  the  keenest  avarice,  and  their 
very  looks  (according  to  what  I  am  told)  dart  out 
harping-irons.  I  have  ordered  Mr.  Noel  to  drop 
every  article  in  my  Lord's  commissions  when 
they  shall  be  hoisted  up  to  too  high  a  price. 
Yet  I  desired  that  my  Lord  may  have  the 
Russian  Bible,  which  I  know  full  well  to  be  a 
very  rare  and  a  very  good  book.' 

A  copy  of  the  sale  catalogue,  with  the  prices 
in  manuscript,  is  preserved  in  the  library  of  the 
British  Museum. 

Bridges  expended  several  thousand  pounds 
in  making  collections  for  his  History  of  North- 
amptonshire, which,  after  many  delays,  was  pub- 
lished under  the  editorship  of  the  Rev.  Peter 
Whalley  in  1791. 


JOHN  MURRAY  159 


JOHN  MURRAY,  1670-1748 

John  Murray  of  Sacombe  in  Hertfordshire,  who 
was  born  on  the  24th  of  January  1670,  and  died 
on  September  13,  1748,  was  an  indefatigable 
collector  of  books.  In  the  Account  of  London 
Libraries,  by  Bagford  and  Oldys,  we  read  that 
he  '  made  scarce  publications  of  English  authors 
his  inquiry  all  his  life,'  and  that  he  had  been  '  a 
collector  above  forty  years  at  all  sales,  auctions, 
shops,  and  stalls,  partly  for  his  own  curiosity, 
and  partly  to  oblige  such  authors  and  gentry  as 
have  commissioned  him.'  He  was  a  friend  of 
Hearne,  who  frequently  mentions  him  in  his 
works  and  Diary.  Hearne  states  that  Murray 
told  him  he  began  to  collect  books  at  thirteen 
years  of  age.  Dr.  Rawlinson  possessed  a  paint- 
ing of  him,  which  was  engraved  by  Vertue.  He 
is  leaning  on  three  books,  inscribed  '  T.  Hearne, 
V.  III.,  Sessions  Papers,  and  Tryals  of  Witches,' 
and  holding  a  fourth  under  his  coat.  Underneath 
are  the  following  lines,  signed  G.  N. : — 

'  Hoh  Maister  John  Murray  of  Sacomb  ! 
The  Works  of  old  Time  to  collect  was  his  pride, 

Till  Oblivion  dreaded  his  Care : 
Regardless  of  Friends,  intestate  he  dy'd, 
So  the  Rooks  and  the  Crows  were  his  Heir.' 


i6o         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 


DR.    MEAD,   1673-1754 

Dr.  Richard  Mead,  the  eminent  physician  and 
collector,  was  born  at  Stepney,  Middlesex,  on 
the  nth  of  August  1673.  His  father,  Matthew 
Mead,  was  a  divine  of  some  eminence  among 
the  dissenters,  and  during  the  Commonwealth 
was  minister  of  Stepney,  but  was  ejected  for 
nonconformity  in  1662.  Richard  Mead  was  first 
educated  at  home,  and  at  a  private  school  kept 
by  Mr.  Thomas  Singleton,  who  was  at  one 
time  second  master  at  Eton.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen  he  entered  the  University  of  Utrecht, 
where  he  remained  three  years,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  the  University  of  Leyden  for  the 
purpose  of  qualifying  himself  for  the  medical 
profession.  In  1695  he  made  a  tour  in  Italy, 
and  after  taking  the  degree  of  doctor  of  philo- 
sophy and  physic  at  Padua,  he  visited  Naples 
and  Rome.  In  1696  he  returned  to  England, 
and  began  to  practise  at  Stepney,  in  the  house 
in  which  he  was  born.  In  1703  he  was  elected 
a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  in  the  same 
year  he  was  chosen  Physician  to  St.  Thomas's 
Hospital,  and  took  a  house  in  Crutched  Friars, 
in  the  City  of  London,  where  he  resided  until 
171 1,  when  he  removed  to  one  in  Austin  Friars, 
which  had  formerly  been  inhabited  by  Dr.  Howe. 
In   1707  the  University  of  Oxford  conferred  on 


DR.  MEAD 


161 


him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine,  and  in 
the  following  year  he  was  admitted  a  member  of 
the  College  of  Physicians,  of  which  institution 


Dr.  Mead. 


he  was  elected  a  Fellow  in  1716.  On  the  death 
of  Dr,  Radcliffe  in  17 14,  Mead  removed  to  the 
residence  which  had  been  occupied  by  that  dis- 
tinguished physician  in  Bloomsbury  Square,  and 


.62         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

in  1720  he  took  a  house  in  Great  Ormond  Street, 
which  he  filled  with  books,  pictures  and  antiqui- 
ties, and  where  he  lived  until  his  death  on  the 
1 6th  of  January    1754.       In    1727   he  was   ap- 
pointed Physician-in-Ordinary  to  King  George  11., 
and  in  1734  he  was  offered  the  post  of  President 
of  the  College   of  Physicians,  but   this   he  de- 
clined, being  desirous  of  retirement.      He  was 
twice   married.      Dr.    Mead    was   the    foremost 
medical   man  of  his  time,  and  his  professional 
income  was  a  very  large  one.     The  greater  part 
of  his   wealth   he   devoted  to  the  patronage  of 
science  and  literature,  and  to  the  acquisition  of 
his  valuable  collections,  which  were  always  open 
to  students  who  wished  to  consult  them.     He 
had    a   very    large    circle    of   attached   friends, 
amongst  whom    were    Newton,    Halley,    Pope, 
Bentley,  and  Freind ;  and  Dr.  Johnson  said  of 
him  that  he  '  lived  more  in  the  broad  sunshine 
of  life  than  almost  any  other  man.'     Pope  refers 
to  his  love  of  books  in  his  epistle  to  Richard 
Boyle,    Earl    of    Burlington,     Of  the    Use    of 
Riches : — 

'  Rare  monkish  manuscripts  for  Hearne  alone, 
And  books  for  Mead  and  butterflies  for  Sloane.' 

Dr.  Mead's  library  consisted  of  upwards  of 
ten  thousand  printed  volumes,  and  many  rare 
and  valuable  manuscripts.  The  collection  was 
especially  rich  in    medical   works,  and  in  early 


DR.  MEAD  163 

editions  of  the  classics.  Among  the  latter  were 
to  be  found  the  Spira  Virgil  of  1470  on  vellum, 
and  the  1469  and  1472  editions  of  the  Historia 
Naturalis  of  Pliny;  the  former  of  which  was 
bought  at  the  sale  of  his  books  by  the  King  of 
France  for  eleven  guineas,  and  the  latter  by  a 
bookseller  named  Willock  for  eighteen  guineas. 
One  of  the  choicest  manuscripts  was  a  missal 
said  to  have  been  illuminated  by  Raphael  and 
his  pupils  for  Claude,  wife  of  Francis  1.,  King 
of  France.  This  was  acquired  by  Horace 
Walpole  for  forty-eight  pounds,  six  shillings. 
It  was  bought  at  the  Strawberry  Hill  sale  in 
1842  by  Earl  Waldegrave  for  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  pounds,  ten  shillings.  The  books 
were  generally  very  fine  copies  and  handsomely 
bound.  After  Mead's  death  they  were  sold  by 
auction  by  Samuel  Baker  of  Covent  Garden,  in 
two  parts,  and  realised  five  thousand  five 
hundred  and  eighteen  pounds,  ten  shillings  and 
elevenpence,  including  nineteen  pounds,  six 
shillings  and  sixpence  for  fifteen  bookcases. 
The  sale  of  the  first  part  commenced  on  the 
1 8th  November  1754,  and  lasted  twenty-eight 
days ;  that  of  the  second  part  began  on  the  7th  of 
April  1755,  and  lasted  twenty-nine  days.  The 
pictures,  prints  and  drawings,  antiquities  and 
coins  and  medals,  were  sold  in  the  early  part  of 
x755  f°r  ten  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds,  eighteen  shillings ;  the  pictures  fetching 


i64          ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

three  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventeen 
pounds,  eleven  shillings — about  six  or  seven 
hundred  pounds  more  than  Mead  gave  for  them. 
Some  portions  of  his  collections  were  sold  during 
his  lifetime. 

Dr.  Mead  was  the  author  of  several  medical 
works,  of  which  his  Discourse  on  the  Plague, 
published  in  1720,  was  the  best.  The  magnificent 
edition  of  De  Thou's  Historia  Sui  Temporis,  in 
seven  folio  volumes,  London,  1733,  edited  by 
Samuel  Buckley ;  and  the  Opus  Majus  of  Roger 
Bacon,  London,  1733,  edited  by  Dr.  Samuel 
Jebb,  were  produced  partly  at  his  expense.  Col- 
lected editions  of  his  medical  works  were  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1762,  and  in  Edinburgh  in 
1765.  His  life  has  been  written  by  Dr.  Maty, 
the  second  Principal  Librarian  of  the  British 
Museum ;  and  a  very  interesting  account  of  his 
library,  by  Mr.  Austin  Dobson,  will  be  found  in 
the  first  volume  of  Bibliographica.  A  portrait  of 
him  by  Allan  Ramsay,  painted  in  1740,  is  in 
the  National  Portrait  Gallery,  and  a  bust  of 
him  by  Roubillac  is  preserved  in  the  College  of 
Physicians.  His  gold-headed  cane,  given  him 
by  Dr.  Radcliffe,  is  also  kept  in  that  institution. 


Earl  of  Sunderland. 


EARL  OF  SUNDERLAND  165 

CHARLES  SPENCER,  THIRD  EARL  OF 
SUNDERLAND,    1674-1722 

Charles  Spencer,  third  Earl  of  Sunderland, 
who  was  born  in  1674,  was  the  second  son 
of  Robert,  second  Earl,  by  Anne,  daughter  of 
George  Digby,  second  Earl  of  Bristol.  He 
appears,  even  when  a  boy,  to  have  displayed 
much  ability,  for  as  early  as  1688,  Evelyn,  who 
was  on  very  intimate  terms  with  the  Spencer 
family,  mentions  him  as  'a  youth  of  extra- 
ordinary hopes,  very  learned  for  his  age,  and 
ingenious,  and  under  a  governor  of  great  merit.' 
This  governor  appears  to  have  been  Dr.  Trim- 
nell,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Winchester.  When 
quite  young,  Lord  Spencer  manifested  a  great 
love  for  books,  and  already  possessed  a  con- 
siderable collection  of  them,  for  he  was  but 
twenty  years  of  age  when  Evelyn  wrote  to  him : 
1  I  was  with  great  appetite  coming  to  take  a 
repast  in  the  noble  library  which  I  hear  you 
have  lately  purchased.'  Evelyn's  Diary  also 
contains  several  notices  of  the  collection,  and 
particularly  mentions  the  purchase  of  the  books 
of  Sir  Charles  Scarborough,  an  eminent  physician, 
which  were  at  one  time  destined  for  the  Royal 
Library. 

At  the  general  election  in  1695  Lord  Spencer 
was  returned  both  for  Tiverton  in  Devonshire, 


166          ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

and  for  Heydon  in  Yorkshire.  He  elected  to  sit 
for  Tiverton,  which  he  represented  in  Parliament 
until  the  death  of  his  father  in  1702,  when  he 
succeeded  to  the  title,  his  elder  brother  having 
died  in  1688.  While  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Commons  he  appears  to  have  held  opinions 
of  a  somewhat  republican  nature ;  and  Swift  tells 
us,  '  he  would  often,  among  his  familiar  friends, 
refuse  the  title  of  Lord  (as  he  had  done  to 
myself),  swear  he  would  never  be  called  other- 
wise than  Charles  Spencer,  and  hoped  to  see 
the  day  when  there  should  not  be  a  peer  in 
England.'  These  views,  however,  were  very 
considerably  modified  on  his  succession  to  the 
title.  In  1705  he  was  appointed  envoy  extra- 
ordinary and  plenipotentiary  to  the  Court  of 
Vienna,  to  congratulate  the  Emperor  Joseph  on 
his  accession  to  the  crown.  Shortly  after  his 
return  to  England,  Sunderland,  notwithstanding 
the  opposition  of  Queen  Anne,  who  always  enter- 
tained a  great  antipathy  for  him,  was  made  one 
of  the  Secretaries  of  State,  an  office  which  he 
held  until  June  17 10,  when  he  was  dismissed 
by  the  Queen,  who  wished,  however,  to  bestow 
on  him  a  pension  of  three  thousand  pounds  a 
year.  This  he  refused,  with  the  remark,  '  I  am 
glad  your  Majesty  is  satisfied  I  have  done  my 
duty.  But  if  I  cannot  have  the  honour  to  serve 
my  country,  I  will  not  plunder  it.'  He  remained 
out   of  office   during   the   remainder  of  Anne's 


EARL  OF  SUNDERLAND  167 

reign,  but  on  the  accession  of  George  1.  to  the 
throne  he  was  made  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland. 
This  post,  however,  was  by  no  means  agreeable 
to  him,  for  he  regarded  it  as  a  kind  of  banish- 
ment, and  during  the  short  time  he  held  it  he 
never  crossed  the  Channel.  In  17 15  he  was 
appointed  Lord  Privy  Seal,  Vice-Treasurer  of 
Ireland  in  17 16,  and  in  April  17 17  he  was  a 
second  time  made  a  Secretary  of  State,  his  friend 
Addison  receiving  a  like  appointment.  On  the 
1 6th  of  March  17 18  he  became  Lord-President 
of  the  Council,  and  on  the  21st  of  the  same 
month  First  Lord  Commissioner  of  the  Treasury, 
which  office  he  resigned  on  the  3rd  of  April 
1 72 1.  He  died,  after  a  short  illness,  on  the 
19th  of  April  1722. 

Lord  Sunderland  was  thrice  married,  and  had 
children  by  all  his  wives.  By  his  second  wife, 
Anne,  daughter  of  the  great  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough, he  had  four  sons  and  a  daughter.  The 
eldest  son  died  in  infancy ;  Robert,  the  second, 
succeeded  to  the  earldom,  and  died  unmarried 
on  the  15th  of  September  1729;  Charles,  the 
third,  became  Earl  of  Sunderland  on  the  death 
of  his  elder  brother,  and  in  1733  second  Duke 
of  Marlborough,  but  he  did  not  obtain  the 
Marlborough  estates  until  the  demise  of  the 
Dowager  Duchess  in  1744;  John,  the  youngest 
son,  who,  by  a  family  arrangement,  then   sue- 


i68  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

ceeded   to   the   Spencer  estates,  was  the  father 
of  the  first  Earl  Spencer. 

Lord  Sunderland  was  a  most  liberal  patron 
of  literature,  and  the  splendid  library  which  he 
commenced  in  his  early  youth,  and  sedulously 
augmented  till  the  time  of  his  death,  bore  witness 
for  several  generations  to  his  love  of  books. 
This  noble  collection  was  kept  in  his  town 
house,  which  stood  between  Sackville  Street 
and  Burlington  House,  where  it  occupied  five 
large  rooms,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Earl's  death 
in  1722  consisted  of  about  twenty  thousand 
printed  volumes,  together  with  some  choice 
manuscripts,  and  was  valued  at  upwards  of 
thirty  thousand  pounds ;  the  King  of  Denmark 
being  anxious  to  purchase  it  of  his  heirs  for 
that  sum.  Charles,  the  fifth  Earl,  also  took 
great  interest  in  the  library,  and  added  a  con- 
siderable number  of  books  to  it,  among  which 
was  a  copy  on  vellum  of  the  Livy  of  1470, 
printed  at  Venice  by  Vendelin  de  Spira.  Only 
one  other  perfect  copy  on  vellum  of  this  edition 
is  known  to  exist.  In  1749  the  library  was 
removed  to  Blenheim,  where  it  remained  until 
1 88 1.  It  was  sold  by  Puttick  and  Simpson 
in  five  portions  in  1881,  1882  and  1883,  and  the 
entire  sale,  which  consisted  of  thirteen  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty-eight  lots,  realised 
fifty-six  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-one 
pounds,  six  shillings. 


EARL  OF  SUNDERLAND  169 

Lord  Sunderland  was  always  very  liberal  in 
his  dealings  with  booksellers,  and  the  prices 
which  he  gave  for  his  books  frequently  gave 
umbrage  to  other  collectors.  Humphrey  Wanley, 
Lord  Oxford's  librarian,  when  giving  in  his  Diary 
an  account  of  a  book-sale  which  took  place  in 
1 72 1,  mentions  that:  'Some  books  went  for  un- 
accountably high  prices,  which  were  bought  by 
Mr.  Vaillant,  the  bookseller,  who  had  an  unlimited 
commission  from  the  Earl  of  Sunderland.  The 
booksellers  upon  this  sale  intend  to  raise  the 
prices  of  philological  books  of  the  first  editions, 
and  indeed  of  all  old  editions,  accordingly.  Thus 
Mr.  Noel  told  me  that  he  has  actually  agreed  to 
sell  the  Earl  of  Sunderland  six  .  .  .  printed 
books,  now  coming  up  the  river,  for  fifty  pounds 
per  book,  although  my  Lord  gives  no  such 
prices.'  And  on  the  demise  of  the  Earl,  Wanley 
wrote:  'This  day  died  the  Earl  of  Sunderland, 
which  I  the  rather  note  here,  because  I  believe 
by  reason  of  his  decease  some  benefit  may  accrue 
to  this  Library,  even  in  case  his  relatives  will 
part  with  none  of  his  books.  I  mean,  by  his 
raising  the  price  of  books  no  higher  now;  so 
that,  in  probability,  this  commodity  may  fall  in 
the  market,  and  any  gentleman  be  permitted  to 
buy  an  uncommon  old  book  for  less  than  forty 
or  fifty  pounds.' 


i7o         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


BRIAN  FAIRFAX,  1676-1749 

Brian  Fairfax,  who  was  the  eldest  son  of  Brian 
Fairfax,  author  of  the  Life  of  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham  and  other  works,  was  born  on  the 
nth  of  April  1676.  He  received  his  early  educa- 
tion at  Westminster  School,  where  he  entered  as 
a  Queen's  Scholar,  and  from  whence  he  went  to 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  taking  the  degrees 
of  B.A.  in  1697  and  M.A.  in  1700.  He  became 
a  Fellow  of  his  College  in  1698.  In  1723  he  was 
appointed  a  Commissioner  of  the  Customs,  a  post 
he  held  until   his  death  on  the  9th  of  January 

1749. 

Fairfax   collected   in    his    house    in    Panton 

Square  a  very  valuable  library,  which,  together 
with  a  considerable  fortune,  a  gallery  of  pictures, 
a  fine  collection  of  Greek,  Roman,  and  English 
coins  and  medals,  and  other  curiosities,  he 
bequeathed  to  his  relative,  the  Hon.  Robert 
Fairfax,  of  Leeds  Castle,  Kent,  afterwards 
seventh  Lord  Fairfax.  Robert  Fairfax  intended 
to  sell  the  library  by  auction  on  the  26th  of 
April  1756,  and  the  seventeen  following  days; 
but  after  having  advertised  it,  he  privately  dis- 
posed of  it  for  two  thousand  pounds  to  his 
kinsman,  Mr.  Francis  Child,1  of  Osterley  Park, 

1  The  first  wife  of  the  Hon.  Robert  Fairfax  was  Martha  Collins,  niece  to 
Sir  Francis  Child,  Bart. 


BRIAN  FAIRFAX  171 

Isleworth,  Middlesex,  and  the  printed  catalogues, 
with  the  exception  of  twenty,  were  suppressed.1 
The  title  to  the  catalogue  of  the  intended  sale 
reads :  '  A  Catalogue  of  the  Entire  and  Valuable 
Library  of  the  Honourable  Bryan  Fairfax,  Esq., 
one  of  the  Commissioners  of  His  Majesty's 
Customs,  Deceased :  which  will  be  sold  by 
Auction,  by  Mr.  Prestage,  at  his  great  room 
the  end  of  Savile  Row,  next  Conduit  Street, 
Hanover  Square.  To  begin  selling  on  Monday, 
April  26,  1756,  and  to  continue  for  seventeen 
days  successively.  Catalogues  to  be  had  at 
the  Place  of  Sale,  and  at  Mr.  Barthoe's,  Book- 
seller in  Exeter  Exchange  in  the  Strand. 
Price  Six-pence,  pp.  68.  8°.'  In  a  copy  of  the 
catalogue  mentioned  by  Dibdin  in  his  Biblio- 
graphical Decameron,  the  price  at  which  each 
article  was  valued  is  given  for  the  express  purpose 
of  the  purchase  of  the  whole  by  Mr.  Child. 
Among  the  prices  thus  noted  are  those  of  the 
nine  Caxtons  which  the  library  contained,  which 
altogether  amounted  to  thirty-three  pounds,  four 
shillings.  The  Recuyell  of  the  Histories  of 
Troye  was  valued  at  eight  guineas,  the  Confessio 
Amantis  at  three  pounds,  and  the  Histories  of 
King  Arthur  at  two  pounds,  twelve  shillings 
and  sixpence.  The  prices  obtained  for  these 
books  at  the  sale  of  the  Osterley  library  in  1885 
were  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  eight 

1  Nichols,  Literary  Anecdotes  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  vol.  v.  p.  326. 


172  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

hundred  and  ten  pounds  and  nineteen  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds,  respectively.  The  collection 
became  part  of  the  Ostcrley  library,  of  which  a 
catalogue  was  made  in  1771  by  Dr.  Thomas 
Morelf,  assisted  by  the  preceding  labours  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Winchester.  Only  twenty-five  copies 
of  this  catalogue  were  printed. 

Brian  Fairfax's  pictures,  statues,  urns,  and 
other  antiquities  were  sold  by  auction  on  April 
the  6th  and  7th,  and  the  prints  and  drawings 
on  May  the  4th  and  5th,  1756. 

In  18 1 9  the  library  passed  by  marriage  into 
the  family  of  the  Earls  of  Jersey,  and  on  the  6th 
of  May  1885  and  seven  following  days  it  was 
sold  by  Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hoage.  The 
sale  consisted  of  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  lots,  which  realised  the  large  sum 
of  thirteen  thousand  and  seven  pounds,  nine 
shillings. 


THOMAS  HEARNE,   1678-1735 

Thomas  Hearne,  the  eminent  antiquary,  was 
born  in  July  1678  at  Littlefield  Green  in  the 
parish  of  White  Waltham,  Berkshire,  where  his 
father,  George  Hearne,  was  the  parish  clerk.  At 
a  very  early  age  he  showed  such  marked  ability 
that  Francis  Cherry,  the  nonjuror,  who  resided 
at   Shottesbrooke   in   the   same   neighbourhood, 


7lI0Ml^llK\ttNE  M.A.tfTJmiw.f  Hall  Qron 


THOMAS  HEARNE  173 

undertook  to  defray  the  cost  of  his  education, 
and  first  sent  him  to  the  free  school  of  Bray,  and 
afterwards,  in  1695,  to  St.  Edmund  Hall,  Oxford. 
This  kindness  is  frequently  referred  to  by  Hearne, 
who  speaks  of  his  benefactor  as  '  my  best  friend 
and  patron.'  He  took  the  degrees  of  B.A.  in 
1679,  and  M.A.  four  years  later.  While  an 
undergraduate,  Dr.  John  Mill,  the  Principal  of 
St.  Edmund  Hall,  and  Dr.  Grabe  employed  him 
in  the  collation  of  manuscripts  ;  and  Hearne  tells 
us  in  his  Autobiography  that,  after  taking  his 
B.A.  degree,  '  he  constantly  went  to  the  Bodleian 
Library  every  day,  and  studied  there  as  long  as 
the  time  allowed  by  the  Statutes  would  admit.' 
His  industry  and  learning  attracted  the  notice 
of  Dr.  Hudson,  who  had  been  recently  elected 
Keeper  of  the  Bodleian  Library,  and,  in  1701,  by 
his  influence  Hearne  was  made  Janitor,  or  Assis- 
tant, in  the  Library,  succeeding  to  the  post  of 
Second  Librarian  in  17 12.  The  duties  of  this 
appointment  he  continued  to  perform  until  the 
23rd  of  January  1716,  the  last  day  fixed  by  the 
Act  for  taking  the  oaths  to  the  Hanoverian 
dynasty.  These  oaths  as  a  nonjuror  he  could 
not  conscientiously  take,  and  he  was  in  con- 
sequence deprived  of  his  office  on  the  ground  of 
'  neglect  of  duty ' ;  but  the  Rev.  W.  D.  Macray,  in 
his  Annals  of  the  Bodleian  Library,  tells  us 
that  'to  the  end  of  his  life  he  maintained  that 
he  was  still,  de  jure,  Sub-librarian,  and  with  a 


174         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

quaint  pertinacity,  regularly  at  the  end  of  each 
term  and  half-year,  up  to  March  30,  1735,  con- 
tinued to  set  down,  in  one  of  the  volumes  of  his 
Diary,  that  no  fees  had  been  paid  him,  and  that 
his  half-year's  salary  was  due.'  Hearne  continued 
a  staunch  nonjuror  to  the  end  of  his  days,  and 
refused  many  University  appointments,  including 
the  Keepership  of  the  Bodleian  Library,  which  he 
might  have  had,  had  he  been  willing  to  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  government;  but  he 
preferred,  to  use  his  own  words,  *  a  good  con- 
science before  all  manner  of  preferment  and 
worldly  honour.'  The  Earl  of  Oxford  offered 
to  make  him  his  librarian  on  Wanley's  death, 
but  this  post  he  also  declined,  and  continued  to 
reside  to  the  end  of  his  life  at  St.  Edmund  Hall, 
engaged  in  preparing  and  publishing  his  various 
antiquarian  and  historical  works.  He  died  on 
the  10th  of  June  1735,  and  was  buried  in  the 
churchyard  of  St.  Peter's-in-the-East  at  Oxford. 
Hearne,  who  was  a  man  of  unwearied  industry, 
and  a  most  devoted  antiquary,  is  described 
by  Pope  in  the  Dunciad,  under  the  title  of 
Wormius — 

•  But  who  is  he,  in  closet  close  ypent, 
Of  sober  face,  with  learned  dust  besprent  ? 
Right  well  mine  eyes  arede  the  myster  wight, 
On  parchment  scraps  y-fed,  and  Wormius  hight.' 

Hearne  amassed  a  considerable  collection  of 


THOMAS  HEARNE  175 

manuscripts  and  printed  books,  of  which  he 
made  a  catalogue,  with  the  prices  he  gave  for 
them.  This  manuscript  came  into  the  possession 
of  Mr.  Beriah  Botfield,  M.P.,  of  Norton  Hall, 
Northamptonshire,  who  privately  printed  some 
extracts  from  it  in  1848. 

Hearne  left  all  his  manuscripts  and  books 
with  manuscript  notes  to  Mr.  William  Bedford, 
son  of  the  nonjuring  bishop,  Hilkiah  Bedford, 
whose  widow  sold  them  to  Dr.  Richard  Rawlin- 
son  for  one  hundred  guineas,  and  by  him 
they  were  bequeathed  to  the  Bodleian  Library. 
Hearne's  diary  and  note-books,  in  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  small  duodecimo  volumes, 
were  among  them.1  His  printed  books  were 
sold  by  Thomas  Osborne  on  the  16th  of 
February  1736,  and  following  days.  The  title- 
page  of  the  catalogue  reads :  '  A  Catalogue  of 
the  Valuable  Library  of  that  great  Antiquarian 
Mr.  Th°.  Hearne  of  Oxford :  and  of  another 
Gentleman  of  Note.  Consisting  of  a  very  great 
Variety  of  Uncommon  Books,  and  scarce  ever  to 
be  met  withal. 

Which  will  begin  to  be  sold  very  cheap,  the 
lowest  Price  mark'd  in  each  Book,  at  T.  Osborne's 
Shop  in  Gray's  Inn,  on  Monday  the  16th  day  of 
February  1735-36.' 

1  Extracts  from  these  volumes  were  published  by  Dr.  Bliss  in  1857,  and 
again  in  1869,  under  the  title  of  Rcliquice  Hearniance ;  and  Hearne's  Remarks 
and  Collections  are  now  being  printed  by  the  Oxford  Historical  Society. 


i;6         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

The   title-page    has   also  a  small   portrait  of 
Hearne,  with  the  following  lines  below  it : — 

'  l'ox  on't  quoth  time  to  Thomas  Hearne, 
Whatever  I  forget,  you  learn.' 

The    catalogue    contains    six    thousand     seven 
hundred  and  seventy-six  lots. 

Hearne  s  publications,  which  were  almost  all 
printed  by  subscription  at  Oxford,  are  very 
numerous.  Among  the  most  valuable  are  an 
edition  of  Livy  in  6  vols.,  1708;  the  Life  of 
Alfred  the  Great,  from  Sir  John  Spelman's 
manuscript  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  1710; 
Leland's  Itinerary,  9  vols.,  17 10;  Leland's 
Collectanea,  6  vols.,  17 15;  Roper's  Life  of 
Sir  Thomas  More,  17 16;  Camden's  Annals, 
3  vols.,  1 7 17;  Curious  Discourses  by  Eminent 
Antiquaries,  1720;  Robert  of  Gloucester's 
Chronicle,  2  vols.,  1724;  Peter  of  Langtoft's 
Chronicle,  2  vols.,  1725;  Liber  Niger  Scaccar/i, 
2  vols.,  1728;  and  Walter  of  Hemingford's 
History,  2  vols.,  1731. 


THOMAS  RAWLINSON,   1681-1725 

Thomas  Rawlinson,  who,  Dibdin  says,  '  may  be 
called  the  Leviathan  of  book-collectors  during 
nearly  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century,'  was  born  in  the  Old  Bailey  on  the  25th 


THOMAS  RAWLINSON  177 

of  March  1681.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Sir 
Thomas  Rawlinson,  Lord  Mayor  of  London  in 
1705-6,  by  Mary,  eldest  daughter  of  Richard 
Tayler,  of  Turnham  Green,  Middlesex,  who  kept 
the  Devil  Tavern  near  Temple  Bar.  He  was 
also  an  elder  brother  of  Dr.  Richard  Rawlinson, 
the  nonjuring  bishop,  who  was  himself  an  ardent 
collector.  In  1699  he  matriculated  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford  from  St.  John's  College,  having 
been  previously  educated  at  Cheam  under  William 
Day,  and  at  Eton.  He  was  called  to  the  bar  in 
1705,  and  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  muni- 
cipal law ;  but  three  years  later,  on  the  death  of 
his  father  in  1708,  who  left  him  a  large  estate, 
he  devoted  himself  to  the  collection  of  books, 
manuscripts  and  pictures.  His  love  for  books 
appears  to  have  been  early  fostered  by  his  grand- 
father, Richard  Tayler,  who  settled  upon  him, 
while  a  schoolboy  at  Eton,  an  annuity  of 
fourteen  pounds  per  annum  for  his  life  to  buy 
books  with ;  '  which,'  Hearne  informs  us  in 
his  Diary,  'he  not  only  fully  expended,  and 
nobly  answered  the  end  of  the  donor,  but 
indeed  laid  out  his  whole  fortune  this  way, 
so  as  to  acquire  a  collection  of  books,  both  for 
number  and  value,  hardly  to  be  equalled  by 
any  one  study  in  England.'  For  some  years 
Rawlinson  resided  in  Gray's  Inn,  but  in  17 16, 
having  filled  his  four  rooms  so  completely  with 
books  that  he  was  obliged  to  sleep  in  the  passage, 


i;8         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

he  was  compelled  to  move,  and  he  took  lodgings 
at  London  House,  in  Aldersgate  Street,  an 
ancient  palace  of  the  bishops  of  London,  but  at 
that  time  the  residence  of  Mr.  Samuel  May,  a 
wealthy  druggist.  Here  he  lived,  says  Oldys, 
1  in  his  bundles,  piles,  and  bulwarks  of  paper, 
in  dust  and  cobwebs,'  until  the  6th  of  August 
1725,  when  he  died,  and  was  buried  in  St. 
Botolph's  Church,  Aldersgate  Street. 

Rawlinson  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society, 
and  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries.  He  was  also 
a  Governor  of  Bridewell  and  Bethlehem  Hos- 
pitals. About  a  year  before  his  decease  he 
married  his  servant,  Amy  Frewin,  but  left  no 
issue. 

Towards  the  end  of  his  life  Rawlinson  be- 
came involved  in  pecuniary  difficulties,  and  he 
sold  a  portion  of  his  collection  by  auction  to 
meet  his  liabilities.  Prior  to  his  death  there 
were  five  sales,  the  first  of  which  took  place  on 
the  4th  of  December  1721,  which  realised  two 
thousand  four  hundred  and  nine  pounds.  But 
when  he  died  an  enormous  number  of  books 
were  still  left,  and  it  required  eleven  additional 
sales,  which  extended  to  March  1734,  to  dispose 
of  them  and  the  manuscripts,  of  which  there 
were  upwards  of  a  thousand.  These  sales  lasted 
on  an  average  for  more  than  twenty-one  days 
each,  but  it  should  be  observed  that  they  took 
place  in  the  evening,    generally  commencing  at 


THOMAS  RAWLINSON  179 

five  o'clock.  All  Rawlinson's  books  were  sold 
by  Thomas  Ballard,  the  bookseller,  at  the  St. 
Paul's  Coffee  House,  with  the  exception  of  those 
disposed  of  at  the  seventh  and  eighth  sales,  which 
were  sold  by  Charles  Davis,  the  bookseller ;  the 
former  at  London  House,  and  the  latter  at  the 
Bedford  Coffee  House,  in  the  great  Piazza, 
Covent  Garden.  In  addition  to  the  printed 
books  and  manuscripts,  Rawlinson's  gallery  of 
paintings  was  sold  at  the  Two  Golden  Bulls 
in  Hart  Street,  Covent  Garden,  on  April  the 
4th  and  5th  1734,  in  one  hundred  and  seventeen 
lots.  Among  the  portraits  was  one  in  crayons 
of  Rawlinson  by  his  brother  Richard. 

Copies  of  the  sale  catalogues  of  Thomas 
Rawlinson's  books  are  very  rare,  but  the  Bodleian 
Library  possesses  an  entire  set  of  them,  almost 
all  of  which  are  marked  with  the  prices  which 
the  books  fetched,  while  two  or  three  have  also 
the  names  of  the  purchasers.  A  fairly  correct 
list  of  them  is  given  by  Dibdin  in  his  Biblio- 
mania, which  he  made  from  a  complete  collection 
of  them  in  the  Heber  library.  The  catalogue  of 
the  manuscripts  was  compiled  by  Rawlinson's 
brother  Richard. 

Rawlinson's  books  appear  to  have  realised 
but  poor  prices,  for  Hearne  writes  in  his  Diary 
(Nov.  10th,  1734),  that  'Dr.  Rawlinson  by  the 
sale  of  his  brother's  books  hath  not  rais'd  near 
the  money  expected.     For,  it  seems,  they  have 


180         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

ill  answer'd,  however  good  books ;  the  mss. 
worse,  and  what  the  prints  will  do  is  as  yet 
undetermin'd.'  No  doubt  the  low  prices  were 
caused  by  the  immense  number  of  books  thrown 
upon  the  market  by  Rawlinson's  sales ;  for,  as 
early  as  April  1723,  Hearne  tells  us  in  his  Diary 
that  'the  editions  of  classicks  of  the  first  print 
(commonly  called  Editioncs  Princi/>es),  that  used 
to  go  at  prodigious  prices,  are  now  strangely 
lowered ;  occasioned,  in  good  measure,  by  Mr. 
Tho.  Rawlinson,  my  friend's,  being  forced  to 
sell  many  of  his  books,  in  whose  auction  these 
books  went  cheap,  tho'  English  history  and 
antiquities  went  dear:  and  yet  this  gentleman 
was  the  chief  man  that  raised  many  curious  and 
classical  books  so  high,  by  his  generous  and 
couragious  way  of  bidding.'  It  is  quite  possible 
too  that  Rawlinson's  books  were  not  always  in 
the  finest  condition,  and  had  suffered  from  the 
dust  and  cobwebs  of  which  Oldys  speaks. 

The  Caxtons,  of  which  there  were  upwards 
of  five  and  twenty  (perfect  and  imperfect),  realised 
but  very  moderate  prices.  The  Recuyell  of  the 
Histories  of  Troy  sold  for  two  pounds,  seven 
shillings;  Gower's  Confessio  si  mantis  for  two 
pounds,  fourteen  shillings  and  sixpence ;  TJie 
Golden  Legend  for  three  pounds,  twelve  shillings ; 
and  Lydgate's  Life  of  Our  Lady  for  two  pounds, 
th  i  rteen  sh i  1 1  i ngs.  The  Histories  of  King  A rthur 
and  his  Knights,  for  which    Mr.    Quaritch,    at 


THOMAS  RAWLINSON  181 

the  Earl  of  Jersey's  sale  in  1885,  gave  as 
much  as  nineteen  hundred  and  fifty  pounds, 
fetched  no  more  than  two  pounds,  four  shillings 
and  sixpence.  These  were  the  highest  prices 
obtained.  Many  of  the  volumes  went  for  a  few 
shillings — the  first  edition  of  The  Dictes  or 
Sayings  for  fifteen  shillings,  Chaucer's  Book  of 
Fame  for  nine  shillings  and  twopence,  and  The 
Moral  Proverbs  of  Christine  de  Pisan  for  four 
shillings  and  tenpence.  Mr.  Blades  does  not 
make  any  mention  of  Thomas  Rawlinson's 
Caxtons  in  his  life  of  the  printer. 

Rawlinson  appears  to  have  greatly  increased 
the  number  of  separate  works  in  his  library  by 
breaking  up  the  volumes  of  tracts ;  for  Oldys 
complains,  'that  out  of  one  volume  he  made 
many,  and  all  the  tracts  or  pamphlets  that  came 
to  his  hands  in  volumes  and  bound  together,  he 
separated  to  sell  them  singly,  so  that  what  some 
curious  men  had  been  pairing  and  sorting  half 
their  lives  to  have  a  topic  or  argument  complete, 
he  by  this  means  confused  and  dispersed  again.' 

Dr.  Richard  Rawlinson  said  of  his  brother 
that  he  collected  in  almost  all  faculties,  but  more 
particularly  old  and  beautiful  editions  of  the 
classical  authors,  and  whatever  directly  or  in- 
directly related  to  English  history.  As  early 
as  17 1 2  Rawlinson  told  Hearne  that  his  library 
had  cost  him  two  thousand  pounds,  and  that  it 
was  worth  five  thousand.     Among  many  other 


182  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

choice  and  rare  books  in  the  collection  were  three 
copies  of  Archbishop  Parker's  De  Antiquitate 
Britannicce  Ecclesice.  Two  of  them  are  now  in 
the  Bodleian  Library,  and  the  Rev.  W.  D. 
Macray,  in  his  Annals  of  the  Bodleian  Library, 
states  that  'one  of  these  is  the  identical  copy 
described  by  Strype  in  his  Life  of  Parker,  and 
which  was  then  in  possession  of  Bp.  Fleetwood 
of  Ely.* 

Rawlinson's  passion  for  collecting  books  was 
evidently  well  known  to  his  contemporaries,  for 
Addison,  who  disliked  and  despised  bibliomaniacs, 
gives  a  satirical  account  of  him,  under  the  name 
of  'Tom  Folio,'  in  No.  158  of  The  Taller. 
Hearne,  who  was  greatly  indebted  to  Rawlinson 
for  assistance  in  his  antiquarian  labours,  warmly 
defends  his  friend  : — '  Some  gave  out,'  he  writes, 
'  and  published  it  too  in  printed  papers,  that  Mr. 
Rawlinson  understood  the  editions  and  titlepages 
of  books  only,  without  any  other  skill  in  them, 
and  thereupon  they  styled  him  TOM  FOLIO. 
But  these  were  only  buffoons,  and  persons  of 
very  shallow  learning.  'Tis  certain  that  Mr. 
Rawlinson  understood  the  titles  and  editions  of 
books  better  than  any  man  I  ever  knew  (for  he 
had  a  very  great  memory),  but  besides  this,  he 
was  a  great  reader,  and  had  read  abundantly  of 
the  best  writers,  ancient  and  modern,  throughout, 
and  was  entirely  master  of  the  learning  contained 
in  them.     He  nad  digested  the  classicks  so  well 


THOMAS  RAWLINSON  183 

as  to  be  able  readily  and  upon  all  occasions 
(what  I  have  very  often  admired)  to  make  use 
of  passages  from  them  very  pertinently,  what  I 
never  knew  in  so  great  perfection  in  any  other 
person  whatsoever.'1 

A  poem  of  twenty-six  lines  by  Rawlinson  on 
the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  in  1700 
was  printed  in  a  collection  of  verses  written  by 
members  of  the  University  of  Oxford  on  that 
event.  This  appears  to  be  his  only  publication 
with  his  name  attached.  The  pretty  edition  of 
the  Satires  of  Juvenal  and  Persius,  published 
at  London  in  17 16,  and  edited  by  Michael 
Maittaire,  was  dedicated  by  him  to  Rawlinson. 

It  is  stated  in  Nichols's  Literary  Anecdotes 
of  the  Eighteenth  Century  (vol.  v.  p.  704)  that 
the  following  inscription  was  found  among  the 
papers  of  Rawlinson,  written  with  his  own  hand, 
and  in  all  probability  designed  by  him  for  part 
of  an  epitaph  on  himself : — 

'  Hie  jacet Vir  liberrimi  Spiritus 

qui  omnes  Mortales  pari  ratione  habuit ; 
tacuisse  de  Criminibus  non  auro  vendidit. 
Qui,  Rege  dempto,  neminem  agnovit  superiorem  ; 
ilium  vero,  O  infortunium  !  nunquam  potuit 
inspicere.' 

1  Diary,  Sept.  4,  1725. 


.84 


ENGLISH    HOOK  COLLFXTORS 


JOSHPH  SMITH,  1682-1770 

Joseph  Smith,  a  portion  of  whose  collection 
formed  the  foundation  of  King  George  iii.'s 
library,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  was  born  in 


Joseph  Smith  . 

Hook-plate  of  Joseph  Smith. 

1682.  Nothing  appears  to  be  known  about  his 
parents  and  his  early  years,  but  at  the  age  of 
nineteen   he    took   up   his   residence   at   Venice, 


JOSEPH  SMITH  185 

where  he  spent  his  life,  apparently  engaged  in 
commerce.1  In  1740  he  was  appointed  British 
Consul  in  that  city,  and  he  died  there  on  the  6th 
of  November  1770,  aged  eighty-eight. 

Smith  was  well  known  as  a  collector  of  books, 
manuscripts,  and  works  of  art.  In  1 762  George  in 
purchased  all  the  books  Smith  had  amassed  up 
to  that  time  for  about  ten  thousand  pounds, 
and  at  a  later  period  the  king  also  bought  his 
pictures,  coins,  and  gems  for  the  sum  of  twenty 
thousand  pounds.  After  the  sale  of  his  library 
Smith  still  continued  to  collect,  and  the  books 
which  he  subsequently  acquired  were  sold  after 
his  death,  partly  by  auction  by  Baker  and  Leigh 
at  their  house  in  York  Street,  Covent  Garden,  on 
Monday,  January  25th,  1773,  and  the  thirteen 
following  days,  and  partly  in  the  shop  of  James 
Robson,  bookseller,  in  New  Bond  Street.  Those 
sold  by  Baker  and  Leigh  realised  two  thousand 
two  hundred  and  forty-five  pounds.  A  portion 
of  his  manuscripts  was  purchased  by  the  Earl 
of  Sunderland  for  one  thousand  five  hundred 
pounds.  Smith's  library  was  rich  in  the  best 
and  scarcest  editions  of  Latin,  Italian  and  French 
authors.  It  also  contained  a  considerable  number 
of  fine  manuscripts,  some  of  them  beautifully 
illuminated,  and  many  valuable  books  of  prints 
and  antiquities. 

About  1727  Smith  compiled  a  catalogue,  which 

1  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 
2  A 


186         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

was  limited  to  twenty-five  copies,  of  some  of  the 
rarest  books  in  his  collection,  of  which  a  second 
edition  with  additions  was  published  in  1737.  A 
catalogue  of  his  entire  library  was  printed  at 
Venice  in  1755,  and  in  1767  an  account  of  his 
antique  gems  in  two  volumes  folio,  written  by 
Antonio  Francesco  Gori,  was  published  in  the 
same  city  under  the  title  of  Dactyliotheca  Smithi- 
ama.  An  edition  of  Boccaccio's  Decamerone  was 
brought  out  by  Smith  in  1729. 


DR.  RICHARD  RAWLINSON,  1690-1755 

Richard  Rawlinson  was  the  fourth  son  of  Sir 
Thomas  Rawlinson,  Lord  Mayor  of  London  in 
1705-6,  and  younger  brother  of  Thomas  Rawlin- 
son the  collector.  He  was  born  in  the  Old  Bailey 
on  the  3rd  of  January  1690,  and,  after  having 
received  his  early  education  at  St.  Paul's  School 
and  Eton,  matriculated  as  a  commoner  of  St. 
John's  College,  Oxford,  in  1708;  but,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  death  of  his  father,  he  became  a 
gentleman-commoner  in  the  following  year.  He 
took  the  degrees  of  B.A.  in  171 1,  M.A.  in  17 13, 
and  in  17 19  he  was  created  D.C.L.  On  the  21st 
of  September  17 16  he  was  ordained  deacon,  and 
two  days  later,  priest  among  the  nonjurors  by 
Bishop  Jeremy  Collier,  in  Mr.  Laurence's  chapel 


DR.  RICHARD  RAWLINSON  187 

on  College  Hill,  London.1  After  his  ordination 
he  travelled  through  a  great  part  of  England,  and 
in  1 7 19  paid  a  visit  to  France,  and  afterwards  to 
the  Low  Countries,  where  he  was  admitted  into 
the  Universities  of  Utrecht  and  Leyden.  To- 
wards the  end  of  the  year  he  returned  home, 
but  in  1720  he  again  left  England,  and  spent 
several  years  in  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and 
other  parts  of  the  Continent.  In  April  1726  he 
again  came  home,  in  consequence  of  the  death 
of  his  brother,  which  took  place  in  the  preceding 
year.  During  his  travels  he  kept  a  series  of 
note-books,  some  of  which  are  preserved  among 
his  miscellaneous  manuscripts  in  the  Bodleian 
Library.  In  1728  he  was  consecrated  bishop 
by  the  nonjuring  bishops  Gandy,  Doughty  and 
Blackbourne  in  Gandy's  chapel,  but  he  appears 
to  have  been  always  desirous  of  concealing  both 
his  clerical  and  episcopal  character,  for  in  a 
letter  written  in  1736  to  Mr.  T.  Rawlins  of 
Pophills,  Warwickshire,  he  requests  him  not  to 
address  him  as  '  Rev.'2  Dr.  Rawlinson  was  elected 
a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  in  17 14,  and  a 
Fellow  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  in  1727,  but 
later  he  quarrelled  with  both  these  Societies,  and 
stipulated  in  his  will  that  the  recipients  of  his 
bequests  should  not  be  Fellows.     He  was  also 

1  Rev.  W.  D.  Macray,  Annals  of  the  Bodleian  Library.      London,  etc., 
1868,  p.  168. 

2  Ibid.  p.  168. 


1 88  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

a  Governor  of  Bridewell,  Bethlehem,  and  St. 
Bartholomew's  Hospitals. 

Dr.  Rawlinson  lived  for  some  time  in  Gray's 
Inn,  but  shortly  after  the  death  of  his  brother 
Thomas  he  took  up  his  abode  in  the  rooms  which 
had  been  occupied  by  him  in  London  House  in 
Aldersgate  Street.  He  died  at  Islington  on  the 
6th  of  April  1755,  and  was  buried,  in  accordance 
with  a  direction  in  a  codicil  to  his  will,  in  St. 
Giles's  Church,  Oxford.  His  heart,  which  he 
bequeathed  as  a  token  of  affection  to  St.  John's 
College,  Oxford,  is  preserved  in  a  marble  urn  in 
the  chapel  of  that  College,  inscribed  with  the 
text  '  Ubi  thesaurus,  ibi  cor,'  and  with  his 
name  and  the  date  of  his  death.  It  is  said  that 
Rawlinson  also  left  instructions  that  a  head, 
which  he  believed  to  be  that  of  Counsellor 
Christopher  Layer,  the  Jacobite  conspirator,  who 
was  executed  in  1723,  should  be  buried  with  him, 
placed  in  his  right  hand ;  but  this  injunction, 
if  really  made,  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
complied  with.1 

Rawlinson  devoted  himself  to  antiquarian 
pursuits,  and,  like  his  brother  Thomas,  was  an 

1  When  the  head  of  Layer  was  blown  off  from  Temple  Bar  (where  it  had 
been  placed  after  his  execution),  it  was  picked  up  by  a  gentleman  in  that 
neighbourhood,  who  showed  it  to  some  friends  at  a  public-house  ;  under 
the  floor  of  which  house,  I  have  been  assured,  it  was  buried.  Dr.  Rawlinson, 
mean-time,  having  made  enquiry  after  the  head,  with  a  wish  to  purchase  it, 
was  imposed  on  with  another  instead  of  Layer's,  which  he  preserved  as  a 
valuable  relique,  and  directed  it  to  be  buried  in  his  hand. — Nichols,  Literary 
Anecdotes  of  the  Eighteenth  Century \  vol.  v.  p.  497. 


DR.  RICHARD  RAWLINSON 


189 


enthusiastic  collector  of  manuscripts  and  books. 
The    Rev.   W.    D.    Macray,    in  his  Annals  of 
the  Bodleian  Library,  says  that  his  collections 
were  '  formed  abroad  and  at  home,  the  choice  of 
book-auctions,   the   pickings    of    chandlers'   and 


Dr.  Richard  Rawlinson. 


grocers'  waste-paper,  everything,  especially,  in 
the  shape  of  a  ms.,  from  early  copies  of  Classics 
and  Fathers  to  the  well-nigh  most  recent  log- 
books of  sailors'  voyages.  Not  a  sale  of  mss. 
occurred,  apparently,  in  London,  during  his  time, 


190         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

at  which  he  was  not  an  omnigenous  purcha 
so  that  students  of  every  subject  now  bury  them- 
selves in  his  stores  with  great  content  and  profit. 
But  history  in  all  its  branches,  heraldry  and 
genealogy,  biography  and  topography,  are  his 
especially  strong  points.' 

Rawfinson  bequeathed  all  his  manuscripts, 
with  the  exception  of  private  papers  and  letters, 
'to  the  chancellor,  masters  and  scholars  of  the 
University  of  Oxford,  to  be  placed  in  the  Bodleian 
Library,  or  in  such  other  place  as  they  should  deem 
proper ' ;  and  he  further  directed  that  they  should 
be  '  kept  separate  and  apart  from  any  other  col- 
lection.' All  his  deeds  and  charters,  his  books 
printed  on  vellum  or  silk,  and  those  containing 
ms.  notes,  together  with  some  antiquities  and 
curiosities,  were  also  left  by  him  to  the  University. 
His  manuscript  and  printed  music  he  bequeathed 
to  the  Music  School.  The  number  of  manu- 
scripts left  by  him  exceeded  four  thousand  eight 
hundred  in  number,  together  with  a  large  collec- 
tion of  charters  and  deeds.  A  catalogue  of  them 
has  been  made  by  the  Rev.  W.  D.  Macray,  the 
author  of  the  Annals  of  the  Bodleian  Library. 
The  printed  books  which  he  selected  from  his 
library  for  the  University  amounted  to  between 
eighteen  and  nineteen  hundred.1  Other  books 
and  manuscripts,  together  with  some  valuable 
pictures   and   coins,  were  given   by  him  to  the 

1  Macray.  Annals  of  the  Bodleian  Library \  p.  170. 


DR.  RICHARD  RAWLINSON  191 

Bodleian  Library  during  his  lifetime.  The 
remainder  of  his  printed  books,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  which  he  bequeathed  to  St.  John's 
College,  were  sold  by  auction  by  Samuel  Baker, 
of  York  Street,  Covent  Garden,  at  two  sales. 
The  first  commenced  on  the  29th  of  March  1 756, 
and  lasted  fifty  days.  It  consisted  of  nine 
thousand  four  hundred  and  five  lots,  which 
fetched  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-one 
pounds,  eighteen  shillings  and  sixpence.  The 
second  sale,  which,  as  the  preface  to  the  cata- 
logue informs  us,  consisted  of  '  upwards  of 
Twenty  Thousand  Pamphlets  .  .  .  and  his  most 
Uncommon,  Rare  and  Old  Books,'  began  on 
Thursday,  March  3rd,  1757,  and  was  continued 
on  the  nine  following  evenings.  It  realised 
but  two  hundred  and  three  pounds,  thirteen 
shillings  and  sixpence.  These  were  followed  by 
a  sale  of  prints,  books  of  prints  and  drawings, 
upwards  of  ten  thousand  in  number.  One 
hundred  and  sixty-three  pounds,  ten  shillings 
and  threepence,  however,  was  all  that  could  be 
obtained  for  them.  Marked  catalogues  of  the 
three  sales  are  preserved  in  the  Library  of  King 
George  m.  in  the  British  Museum.  The  prices 
at  all  the  sales  were  very  low.  There  were  three 
Caxtons  in  the  first  sale — Tully  of  Old  Age, 
Curia  Sapientice,  and  the  Order  of  Chivalry, 
which  fetched  respectively  one  pound  five  shil- 
lings, six  shillings,  and  eleven  shillings.     The 


192  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

prints  and  drawings  fared  even  worse  than  the 
printed  books.  One  hundred  and  three  prints 
by  Albert  Diirer,  in  two  lots,  sold  for  one 
pound,  ten  shillings  and  sixpence,  and  a  large 
collection  of  woodcuts  by  the  same  artist  for 
half  a  crown.  Twenty-four  etchings  by  Rem- 
brandt, in  four  lots,  realised  but  three  pounds, 
five  shillings  ;  while  eleven  shillings  and  sixpence 
was  all  that  could  be  got  for  thirty-four  heads  and 
thirty-five  views  by  Hollar. 

The  collection  of  manuscripts  which  Dr. 
Rawlinson  bequeathed  to  the  University  of 
Oxford  is  a  magnificent  one,  and  Mr.  Macray 
gives  a  long  and  very  interesting  account  of  it  in 
his  Annals  of  the  Bodleian  Library.  It  contains 
some  fine  Biblical  manuscripts,  and  about  one 
hundred  and  thirty  Missals,  Horae,  and  other 
Service-books,  many  of  them  from  the  library  of 
the  celebrated  collector  Nicolas  Joseph  Foucault. 
It  is  rich  in  early  copies  of  the  classics,  and  there 
are  upwards  of  two  hundred  volumes  of  poetry, 
including  the  works  of  Chaucer,  Hoccleve,  Lyd- 
gate,  etc.  English  history  is  remarkably  well 
represented.  Among  the  manuscripts  of  this 
division  of  the  collection  are  the  Thurloe  State 
Papers  in  sixty-seven  volumes,  which  were  pub- 
lished by  Dr.  Birch  in  1742,  and  the  Miscellaneous 
Papers  of  Samuel  Pepys  in  twenty-five  volumes. 
The  Pepys  papers,  among  other  very  interesting 


DR.  RICHARD  RAWLINSON  193 

matter,  comprise  many  curious  dockyard  account- 
books  of  the  reigns  of  King  Henry  vm.  and 
Queen  Elizabeth.  This  division  also  contains 
some  important  letters  of  King  Charles  11. ,  King 
James  11.,  and  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  together 
with  an  acknowledgment  by  Monmouth  that 
Charles  11.  had  declared  that  he  was  never  married 
to  Lucy  Walters,  the  Duke's  mother.  This  was 
written  and  signed  by  him  on  the  day  of  his 
execution,  and  witnessed  by  Bishops  Turner  and 
Ken,  and  also  by  Tenison  and  Hooper.  As 
might  be  expected,  the  number  of  works  relating 
to  topography,  heraldry  and  genealogy  is  very 
large.  The  collection  also  comprises  many  Irish 
manuscripts,  a  considerable  number  of  Italian 
papers  bearing  on  English  history,  and  the 
valuable  collections  made  by  Rawlinson  for  a 
continuation  of  Wood's  Athencz  Oxonienses,  and 
for  a  History  of  Eton  College.  There  are  one 
hundred  volumes  of  letters,  two  hundred  volumes 
of  sermons,  and  the  immense  quantity  of  ancient 
charters  and  deeds  already  mentioned. 

Rawlinson  also  bequeathed  to  the  University 
Hearne's  daily  diary  and  note-books  in  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  small  duodecimo  volumes, 
which  he  had  bought  of  the  widow  of  Mr.  William 
Bedford. 

Among  the  printed  books  is  a  magnificent 
collection  of  the  original  broadside  proclamations 
issued  during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  and  a  set  of 

2  B 


i94         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

almanacs  extending  from  1607  to  1747,  bound  in 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  volumes.1 

To  St.  John's  College,  Rawlinson  bequeathed 
a  large  portion  of  his  estate,  amounting  to  about 
seven  hundred  pounds  a  year,  a  few  of  his  printed 
books,  a  collection  of  coins,  etc. ;  and  to  the 
College  of  Surgeons  he  gave  some  anatomical 
specimens.  He  also  left  property  to  endow  a 
professorship  of  Anglo-Saxon  at  Oxford,  and  to 
provide  a  salary  for  the  Keeper  of  the  Ashmolean 
Museum.  But  all  his  endowments  were  accom- 
panied by  eccentric  restrictions,  which  remained 
in  force  until  a  few  years  ago,  when  they  were 
annulled  by  statute.  He  directed  '  that  no  native 
of  Scotland  or  Ireland,  or  of  any  of  the  planta- 
tions abroad,  or  any  of  their  sons,  or  any  present 
or  future  member  of  the  Royal  or  Antiquary 
societies,'  should  hold  these  endowments;  and 
in  the  case  of  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  he  further 
enjoined  that  the  Keeper  'is  not  to  be  a  doctor  in 
divinity  or  in  holy  orders  .  .  .  neither  born  nor 
educated  in  Scotland,  neither  a  married  man  nor 
a  widower,  but  one  who  hath  regularly  proceeded 
in  Oxford  to  the  degrees  of  master  of  arts  or 
bachelor  of  law.' 

Rawlinson  wrote  a  considerable  number  of 
works,  chiefly  of  an  antiquarian  or  topographical 

1  Rawlinson  also  left  to  the  University  some  autograph  writings  of 
King  James  I.  The  existence  of  these  had  been  forgotten,  and  has  only 
been  recently  discovered. 


MARTIN  FOLKES  195 

nature.  Among  the  more  important  are  The 
English  Topographer,  The  History  and  Anti- 
quities of  the  City  and  Cathedral  Church  of 
Hereford,  The  History  and  Antiquities  of  the 
Cathedral  Church  of  Rochester,  The  History 
and  Antiquities  of  Glastonbury ;  and  a  Life 
of  Anthony  a  Wood.  He  also  edited  Aubrey's 
Natural  History  and  Antiquities  of  Surrey, 
and  other  books. 

Although  Dr.  Rawlinson,  like  his  father  and 
his  brother,  was  a  warm  Jacobite,  he  does  not 
appear  to  have  taken  part  in  any  of  the  movements 
for  the  restoration  of  the  Stuart  family  to  the 
throne.  He  entirely  occupied  himself  with  anti- 
quarian and  literary  pursuits,  and  the  formation 
of  his  noble  collections.  In  order  that  he  might 
devote  as  much  as  possible  of  his  income  to  the 
purchase  of  books  and  antiquities,  he  denied 
himself  the  luxuries,  and  even  the  comforts  of 
life ;  and  he  went  about  so  meanly  clad,  that  the 
coachman  of  his  late  father  happening  to  meet 
him  one  day,  and  judging  from  his  appearance 
that  he  was  in  a  destitute  condition,  begged  his 
acceptance  of  half  a  crown  to  relieve  his  distress. 
The  story  is  told  by  Dr.  Rawlinson  himself. 

MARTIN   FOLKES,  1 690-1 754 

Martin   Folkes,   the    eminent    antiquary  and 
scientist,  was  the  eldest  son  of  Martin  Folkes, 


iq6         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

a  Bencher  of  Grays  Inn.  He  was  born  in 
Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  London,  on  the  29th  of 
October  1690,  and  after  receiving  his  early 
education  at  the  University  of  Saumur,  was  sent, 
in  1707,  to  Clare  Hall,  Cambridge,  where  he 
so  greatly  distinguished  himself  in  all  branches 
of  learning,  and  more  particularly  in  mathematics 
and  philosophy,  that  in  17 14,  when  only  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  of 
the  Royal  Society,  and  two  years  later  was 
chosen  one  of  its  Council.  In  1723  he  was  ap- 
pointed a  Vice-President  of  the  Society,  and  on 
the  retirement  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane  in  1741  he 
became  President,  a  post  he  held  until  1753, 
when  he  resigned  it  on  account  of  his  health. 
Folkes  was  also  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Society 
of  Antiquaries  in  1720,  and  in  1750  he  succeeded 
the  Duke  of  Somerset  as  President,  an  office  he 
filled  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His 
attainments  were  also  recognised  by  the  French 
Academy,  which  elected  him  in  1742  one  of  its 
members.  He  was  a  D.C.L.  of  the  University 
of  Oxford,  and  LL.D.  of  the  University  of 
Cambridge.  He  died  on  the  28th  of  June  1754, 
and  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  Hillington 
Church,  Norfolk.  In  1792  a  monument  was 
erected  to  his  memory  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Folkes,  who  was  the  author  of  two  works 
on  English  coins,  and  several  papers  in  the 
Philosophical  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society 


WILLIAM  OLDYS  197 

and  the  Archaologia  of  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries, formed  a  fine  collection  of  books,  prints, 
drawings,  pictures,  gems,  coins,  etc.,  a  consider- 
able portion  of  which  he  acquired  during  his 
travels  in  Italy  and  Germany.  His  library, 
which  was  very  rich  in  works  on  natural  history, 
coins,  medals,  inscriptions,  and  the  fine  arts,  was 
sold  by  Samuel  Baker,  York  Street,  Covent 
Garden,  on  Monday,  February  the  2nd  1756,  and 
forty  following  days.  The  sale  consisted  of 
five  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  lots, 
which  produced  three  thousand  and  ninety-one 
pounds,  six  shillings.  A  catalogue,  marked  with 
the  prices,  is  preserved  in  the  Library  of  King 
George  III.  in  the  British  Museum.  A  copy  of 
the  first  Shakespeare  folio  fetched  but  three 
guineas.  The  sale  of  Folkes's  prints  and  draw- 
ings occupied  eight  days,  and  that  of  his  pictures, 
gems,  coins,  and  mathematical  instruments  five 
days.  Dibdin  says  that  '  the  mss.  of  his  own 
composition,  not  being  quite  perfect,  were,  to  the 
great  loss  of  the  learned  world,  ordered  by  him 
to  be  destroyed.' 


WILLIAM   OLDYS,  1696-1761 

William  Oldys,  Norroy  King-at-Arms,  was 
born  on  the  14th  of  July  1696.  There  is  some 
obscurity  respecting  his  parentage,  but  there  is 


198         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

little  doubt  he  was  the  natural  son  of  Dr.  William 
Oldys,  Chancellor  of  Lincoln,  and  Advocate  of 
the  Admiralty  Court.  His  father  left  him  some- 
property,  which  he  appears  to  have  lost  in  the 
South  Sea  Bubble.  From  the  year  1724  to  1730 
Oldys  resided  in  Yorkshire,  but  in  the  latter  year 
he  returned  to  London,  and  became  acquainted 
with  Edward  Harley,  the  second  Earl  of  Oxford, 
to  whom  he  sold  his  collection  of  manuscripts  for 
forty  pounds.  In  1738  the  Earl  appointed  him 
his  literary  secretary  and  librarian,  first  at  a 
salary  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  and 
afterwards  of  two  hundred  pounds,  a  year.  Un- 
fortunately the  Earl  died  in  1741,  and  Oldys 
was  obliged  to  earn  a  precarious  livelihood  by 
working  for  booksellers,  and  was  soon  involved 
in  pecuniary  difficulties.  He  was  confined  in  the 
Fleet  prison  from  1751  to  1753,  when  he  was  re- 
leased by  the  kindness  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk, 
who  not  only  paid  his  debts,  but  in  1755  pro- 
cured for  him  the  office  of  Norroy  King-at-Arms, 
which  congenial  post  he  held  for  six  years.  He 
died  at  his  rooms  in  Heralds'  College  on  the 
15th  of  April  1 76 1,  and  was  buried  in  the  church 
of  St.  Benet,  Paul's  Wharf.  A  portrait  of  him 
will  be  found  in  the  European  Magazine  for 
November  1796.  The  principal  works  by  Oldys 
are  a  Life  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  prefixed  to  an 
edition  of  his  History  of  the  World,  printed  in 
1736;   The  British  Librarian,  published  anony- 


JOHN  RATCLIFFE  199 

mously  in  1738;  and  The  Harleian  Miscellany, 
published  in  1744-46.  He  also  annotated  Eng- 
land's Parnassus,  and  two  copies  of  Langbaine's 
Account  of  the  early  Dramatick  Poets.  One  of 
these  copies  was  purchased  by  Dr.  Birch  at  the 
sale  of  Oldys's  books  for  one  guinea,  and  was 
bequeathed  by  him  to  the  British  Museum. 
Twenty-two  of  the  lives  in  Biographia  Bri- 
tannica  were  from  his  pen,  and  in  addition  to 
the  works  already  mentioned  he  wrote  a  few 
minor  ones  on  bibliographical  and  medical 
subjects.  Oldys's  library  was  not  a  large  one, 
but  it  contained  some  very  interesting  and  scarce 
books.  After  his  death  it  was  purchased  by 
Thomas  Davies,  the  bookseller,  author  of 
Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  Garrick,  and  was  sold 
by  him  in  1762.  The  title  of  the  sale  catalogue 
reads :  '  A  Catalogue  of  the  Libraries  of  the  late 
William  Oldys,  Esq.,  Norroy  King-at-Arms 
(author  of  The  Life  of  Sir  IValter  Raleigh) ; 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Emms  of  Yarmouth,  and  Mr. 
Wm.  Rush,  which  will  begin  to  be  sold  on 
Monday,  April  12  [1762]  by  Thomas  Davies.' 
The  books  were  disposed  of  for  extremely  low 
prices. 

JOHN   RATCLIFFE,  -1776 

Nothing  appears  to  be  known  of  the  parentage 
and  birth  of  John   Ratcliffe,  the  collector,  who 


200         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

for  some  years  kept  a  chandler's  shop  in  South- 
wark,  where  he  seems  to  have  amassed  a  sufficient 
competency  to  enable  him  to  retire  from  business 
and  devote  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  the  ac- 
quisition of  old  books.  It  is  said  that  his  passion 
for  collecting  them  arose  from  the  perusal  of  some 
of  the  volumes  which  were  purchased  by  him  for 
the  purpose  of  wrapping  his  wares  in.  Ratcliffe 
kept  his  library  at  his  house  in  East  Lane, 
Bermondsey,  where,  Nichols  informs  us  in  his 
Literary  Anecdotes,  '  he  used  to  give  Coffee  and 
Chocolate  every  Thursday  morning  to  Book  and 
Print  Collectors ;  Dr.  Askew,  Messrs.  Beau  clerk, 
Bull,  Croft,  Samuel  Gillam,  West,  etc.,  used  to 
attend,  when  he  would  produce  some  of  his  fine 
purchases.'  Nichols  adds,  '  he  generally  used  to 
spend  whole  days  in  the  Booksellers'  warehouses ; 
and,  that  he  might  not  lose  time,  would  get  them 
to  procure  him  a  chop  or  a  steak.'  An  amusing 
letter  respecting  him  appeared  in  the  Gentleman  s 
Magazine  for  1812.  The  writer  states  that  '  Mr. 
John  Radcliffe  was  neither  a  man  of  science  or 
learning.  He  lived  in  East  Lane,  Bermondsey ; 
was  a  very  corpulent  man,  and  his  legs  were 
remarkably  thick,  probably  from  an  anasarcous 
complaint.  The  writer  of  this  remembers  him 
perfectly  well ;  he  was  a  very  stately  man,  and, 
when  he  walked,  literally  went  at  a  snail's  pace. 
He  was  a  Dissenter,  and  every  Sunday  attended 
the  meeting  of  Dr.  Flaxman  in  the  lower  road 


JOHN  RATCLIFFE  201 

to  Deptford.  He  generally  wore  a  fine  coat, 
either  red  or  brown,  with  gold  lace  buttons, 
and  a  fine  silk  embroidered  waistcoat,  of  scarlet 
with  gold  lace,  and  a  large  and  well-powdered 
wig.  With  his  hat  in  one  hand,  and  a  gold- 
headed  cane  in  the  other,  he  marched  royally 
along,  and  not  unfrequently  followed  by  a  parcel 
of  children,  wondering  who  the  stately  man  could 
be.  A  few  years  before  his  death,  a  fire  happened 
in  the  neighbourhood  where  he  lived;  and  it 
became  necessary  to  remove  part  of  his  house- 
hold furniture  and  books.  He  was  incapable  of 
assisting  himself;  but  he  stood  in  the  street 
lamenting  and  deploring  the  loss  of  his  Caxtons, 
when  a  sailor,  who  lived  within  a  few  doors  of 
him  attempted  to  console  him  :  "  Bless  you,  Sir, 
I  have  got  them  perfectly  safe !  "  While  Ratcliffe 
was  expressing  his  thanks,  the  sailor  produced 
two  of  his  fine  curled  periwigs,  which  he  had 
saved  from  the  devouring  element ;  and  who 
had  no  idea  that  Ratcliffe  could  make  such  a 
fuss  for  a  few  books.'     He  died  in  1776. 

Ratcliffe's  collection,  though  not  large,  was 
marvellously  rich  in  the  productions  of  the  early 
English  printers  ;  and  the  volumes  were  generally 
in  fine  condition,  and  handsomely  bound,  though 
not  always  in  good  taste.  It  contained  no  less 
than  forty-eight  Caxtons,  among  which  were  the 
Game  of  the  Chesse,  the  Dictes  or  Sayings  of  the 
Philosophers,  the  History  of  f  asm,  and  Chaucer's 

2C 


202         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Canterbury  Tales.  It  comprised  also  numerous 
books  from  the  presses  of  the  Schoolmaster  of 
St.  Albans,  Lettou,  Machlinia,  Pynson,  Wynkyn 
de  Worde,  etc.,  and  a  few  manuscripts.  Dibdin 
in  his  Bibliomania  remarks :  '  If  ever  there  was 
a  unique  collection,  this  was  one  —  the  very 
essence  of  Old  Divinity,  Poetry,  Romances  and 
Chronicles.'  RatclirTe  compiled  a  manuscript 
catalogue  of  his  library  in  four  volumes,  which 
was  disposed  of  at  the  sale  of  his  collection  for 
seven  pounds,  fifteen  shillings.  It  is  said  that 
he  always  wrote  on  the  first  fly-leaf  of  his  books 
4  Perfect ' — or  otherwise,  as  the  case  might  be. 

After  his  death  his  library  was  sold  by  auction 
by  Mr.  Christie  of  Pall  Mall.  The  sale,  which 
commenced  on  the  27th  of  March  1776  and  lasted 
till  April  6th,  consisted  of  one  thousand  six 
hundred  and  seventy-five  lots.  It  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  well  managed,  for  Nichols 
says,  '  there  were  many  hundred  most  rare  Black- 
letter  books  and  Tracts,  unbound,  with  curious 
cuts.  They  were  sold  I  remember  in  large 
bundles,  and  were  piled  under  the  tables  in  the 
Auction  Room,  on  which  the  other  books  were 
exposed  to  view,  and  were  not  seen  by  the  Book- 
sellers who  were  the  purchasers.'  A  priced  copy 
of  the  catalogue  is  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum,  which  shows  that  the  Caxtons  fetched 
but  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  pounds,  five 
shillings  and  sixpence;   the   highest   prices   ob- 


JAMES  WEST  203 

tained  being  sixteen  pounds  for  the  Game  of  the 
Chesse,  fifteen  guineas  for  the  Dictes  or  Sayings 
of  the  Philosophers,  and  nine  pounds,  fifteen  shil- 
lings for  the  Golden  Legende.  King  George  in. 
bought  twenty  of  the  Caxtons  at  an  aggregate  cost 
of  about  eighty-five  pounds.  Among  them  were 
the  De  Consolatione  Philosophies  of  Boethius, 
Reynard  the  Foxe,  the  Golden  Legende,  the  Curial, 
and  the  Speculum  Vitce  Christi.  The  Boethius, 
which  was  a  fine  copy,  was  acquired  for  four 
pounds,  six  shillings.  A  copy  of  the  Bokys  of 
Hawkyng  and  Huntyng,  etc.,  ascribed  to  Dame 
Juliana  Bernes,  printed  at  St.  Albans  in  i486, 
sold  for  nine  pounds,  twelve  shillings,  and  a 
manuscript  Bible  on  vellum,  finely  illuminated, 
for  two  pounds,  ten  shillings. 

JAMES   WEST,  1704  ?-i 772 

James  West,  who  is  described  by  Dibdin  as 
'  a  Non-Pareil  Collector :  the  first  who,  after  the 
days  of  Richard  Smith,  succeeded  in  reviving 
the  love  of  black-letter  lore  and  of  Caxtonian 
typography,'  was  born  about  1704.  He  was 
the  son  of  Richard  West  of  Priors  Marston 
in  Warwickshire,  said  to  be  descended  from 
Leonard,  a  younger  son  of  Thomas  West,  Lord 
de  la  Warr,  who  died  in  1525.  James  West 
was  educated  at  Balliol  College,  Oxford,  whence 
he  took  the  degrees  of  B.A.  in  1723  and  M.A. 


204         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

in  1726.  In  1721  he  was  admitted  as  a  student 
at  the  Inner  Temple,  and  was  called  to  the  Bar 
in  1728.  On  the  4th  of  January  1737,  while  re- 
siding in  the  Temple,  he  lost  a  large  portion  of 
his  collections,  valued  at  nearly  three  thousand 
pounds,  through  a  fire  in  his  chambers.1  In 
1 74 1  he  was  elected  one  of  the  representatives  in 
Parliament  for  St.  Albans,  and  was  appointed 
one  of  the  Joint  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury, 
which  post  he  held  until  1762.  Three  or  four 
years  later  his  patron  the  Duke  of  Newcastle 
obtained  for  him  a  pension  of  two  thousand 
a  year.  He  sat  for  St.  Albans  until  1768,  and 
afterwards  represented  the  constituency  of 
Boroughbridge  in  Yorkshire  until  his  death  on 
July  the  2nd,  1772.  He  was  Recorder  of  Poole 
for  many  years,  and  also  High  Steward  of  St. 
Albans.  He  married  the  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas 
Stephens,  timber  merchant  in  Southwark,  with 
whom  he  had  a  large  fortune  in  houses  in 
Rotherhithe. 

West  had  a  great  love  for  scientific  and 
antiquarian  pursuits,  and  as  early  as  1726  he 
was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and 
in  the  following  year  a  Fellow  of  the  Society 
of  Antiquaries,  of  which  he  became  a  Vice- 
President.  Of  the  first-named  Society  he  was 
chosen  Treasurer  in  1736  and  President  in  1768, 
which  office  he  held  during  the  remainder  of  his 

1  Oldy*.  Diary;  London,  1862,  p.  3. 


JAMES  WEST  205 

life.  In  addition  to  his  extensive  and  valuable 
library  of  manuscripts  and  printed  books,  West 
collected  paintings,  prints,  and  drawings,  coins 
and  medals,  plate,  and  miscellaneous  curiosities. 
His  collection  of  printed  books  was  exceedingly 
rich  in  early  English  ones.  It  contained  no 
fewer  than  thirty-four  Caxtons,  and  a  large 
number  of  works  from  the  presses  of  Lettou, 
Machlinia,  the  anonymous  '  Scole  mayster'  of 
St.  Albans,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  Pynson,  and 
the  rest  of  the  old  English  typographers,  many 
of  which  were  unique  copies.  His  manuscripts 
were  exceptionally  interesting  and  valuable. 
These,  with  some  exceptions,  were  bought  by 
William,  Earl  of  Shelburne,  afterwards  Marquis 
of  Lansdowne,  and  were  subsequently  purchased 
by  Parliament,  together  with  the  other  manu- 
scripts of  the  Marquis,  for  the  British  Museum. 
Many  of  the  manuscripts  had  previously  be- 
longed to  Bishop  Kennet. 

West's  coins,  pictures,  prints,  drawings,  and 
museum  of  curiosities  were  disposed  of  at 
various  sales  in  the  early  part  of  1773,1  and  on 
the  29th  of  March  and  twenty-three  following 
days  in  the  same  year  his  library  was  sold 
by    Messrs.    Langford2   at    his    late    dwelling- 

1  Horace  Walpole  says  that  the  prints  sold  for  the  'frantic  sum  of 
^1495,  IOS-' — Letters,  London,  1857-59,  vol.  v.  p.  439. 

*  Nichols  states  that  the  books  were  sold  by  auction  under  the  name  of 
Messrs.  Langford,  but  actually  by  Mr.  Samuel  Paterson,  who  compiled  the 
catalogue. — Anecdotes  of  Literature,  vol.  vi.  p.  345. 


206          ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

house  in  King  Street,  Covent  Garden.1  There 
were  four  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty-three 
lots,  which  realised  two  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  pounds,  one  shilling.  A 
copy  of  the  catalogue  with  the  prices  and  the 
names  of  the  purchasers  is  preserved  in  the 
Library  of  King  George  in.  in  the  British 
Museum.  Many  of  the  more  valuable  books 
were  purchased  by  Gough,  the  antiquary,  the 
greater  part  of  which  were  bequeathed  by  him 
to  the  Bodleian  Library.  Although  Horace 
Walpole,  in  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  W.  Cole,  dated 
April  7th,  1773,  writes  that  he  considered  'the 
books  were  selling  outrageously,'  the  prices  were 
only  fairly  good  for  the  time,  and  not  high.  The 
thirty-four  Caxtons  realised  no  more  than  three 
hundred  and  sixty-one  pounds,  four  shillings 
and  sixpence.  The  highest  prices  obtained  were 
forty-seven  pounds,  fifteen  shillings  and  sixpence 
for  the  first  edition  of  Chaucer's  Canterbury 
Tales,  thirty-two  pounds,  eleven  shillings  for  the 
Recuyell  of  the  Histories  of  Troy,  thirty-two 
pounds  and  sixpence  for  the  first  edition  of  the 
Game  of  the  Chesse,  and  twenty-one  pounds  for 
the  second  edition  of  the  Dictes  or  Sayings  of  the 
Philosophers.  These  four  works  were  purchased 
for  King  George  in.,  who  bought  largely  at  the 
sale.     Among  many  other  rare  English  books  a 

1  West's    country     residence    was    Alscot     Park,     I'reston-on-Stour, 
Gloucestershire. 


JAMES  WEST  207 

fine  example  of  the  Bokys  of  Hawkyng  and 
Huntyng,  printed  at  St.  Albans  in  i486,  fetched 
thirteen  pounds,  and  unique  copies  of  two  works 
from  the  press  of  Wynkyn  de  Worde — The 
Passe  Tyme  of  Pleasure,  151 7,  and  the  Hist  or  ye 
of  Olyver  of  Cast  tile,  15 18 — three  guineas,  and 
one  pound,  twelve  shillings  respectively.  The 
latter  book  was  reprinted  in  1898  by  Mr.  Christie- 
Miller  for  the  Roxburghe  Club.  It  was  edited  by 
Mr.  R.  E.  Graves,  late  Assistant-Keeper,  Depart- 
ment of  Printed  Books,  British  Museum.  West's 
famous  collection  of  ballads,  which  was  begun 
by  Robert  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford,  was  bought 
for  twenty  pounds  by  Major  Pearson,  who  made 
many  additions  to  it.  It  afterwards  came  into 
the  possession  of  the  Duke  of  Roxburghe,  by 
whom  it  was  also  greatly  enlarged.  After 
passing  through  the  library  of  Mr.  Bright,  it 
was  finally  acquired  in  1845  by  the  trustees  of 
the  British  Museum. 

Among  the  manuscripts  a  beautifully  illumin- 
ated Missal,  made  by  order  of  King  Henry  vn. 
for  his  daughter  Margaret,  afterwards  Queen 
Consort  of  James  iv.,  King  of  Scotland,  was 
bought  by  the  Duke  of  Northumberland  for 
thirty-two  pounds,  eleven  shillings ;  a  Book  of 
Hours  sold  for  forty-three  pounds,  one  shilling ; 
and  a  manuscript  of  Boccaccio  for  twenty-five 
pounds,  four  shillings.  Both  of  these  manuscripts 
had  exceedingly  fine  illuminations. 


208         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

BENJAMIN  HEATH,  1704-1766 

Benjamin  Heath,  who  was  born  at  Exeter  on 
the  20th  of  April  1704,  was  the  eldest  son  of 
Benjamin  Heath,  a  fuller  and  merchant  of  that 
city.1  He  was  educated  at  the  Exeter  Grammar 
School,  and  afterwards  studied  law,  with  a  view 
of  being  called  to  the  Bar ;  but  having  inherited 
a  handsome  fortune  on  the  death  of  nis  father, 
he  abandoned  his  intention,  and  devoted  himself 
to  literature,  and  also  to  the  formation  of  a 
library,  which  he  had  commenced  at  a  very  early 
age.  In  1752  Heath  was  elected  town-clerk  of 
Exeter,  an  appointment  he  held  until  his  death 
on  the  13th  of  September  1766.  In  1762  the 
University  of  Oxford  conferred  on  him  the  degree 
of  D.C.L.  He  was  the  author  of  several  works, 
principally  on  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics  and 
the  text  of  Shakespeare.  Heath  in  his  lifetime 
divided  a  portion  of  his  fine  library  between  two 
of  his  sons,  but  retained  a  large  part  of  it. 
Dibdin  in  Bibliomania  prints  an  interesting 
letter,  dated  Exeter,  March  21st,  1738,  from 
Heath  to  Mr.  John  Mann  of  the  Hand  in  Hand 
Fire  Office,  London,  asking  him  to  superintend 
the  purchase  of  some  books  at  a  sale  which  was 
shortly  to  take  place,  and  appending  a  list  of 
those  he  desired,  and  the  prices  he  was  willing 
to  pay  for  them. 

1  Drake,  Heathiana.     London,  1882. 


HORACE  WALPOLE  209 

HORACE  WALPOLE,  FOURTH  EARL 
OF  ORFORD,  171 7-1 797 

Horatio  or  Horace  Walpole,  fourth  Earl  of 
Orford  (he  disliked  the  name  Horatio,  and  wrote 
himself  Horace),  was  the  fourth  and  youngest  son 
of  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  first  Earl  of  Orford,  by 
his  first  wife,  Catherine  Shorter,  eldest  daughter 
of  John  Shorter  of  Bybrook,  near  Ashford  in 
Kent.  He  was  born,  as  he  himself  tells  us,  on 
the  24th  of  September  1717  O.S.  In  1727  he 
was  sent  to  Eton,  where  he  had  for  his  school- 
fellows the  future  poets  Thomas  Gray  and  Richard 
West ;  and  eight  years  later  he  proceeded  to  King's 
College,  Cambridge.  Walpole  entered  the  House 
of  Commons  in  1741  as  Member  for  Callington 
in  Cornwall,  and  afterwards  sat  for  the  family 
boroughs  of  Castle  Rising  and  King's  Lynn,  but 
although  he  took  a  considerable  interest  in  politics, 
public  life  was  not  congenial  to  his  pursuits  and 
tastes,  and  in  1767  he  resigned  his  seat  in  Parlia- 
ment. In  his  earlier  days  he  was  a  Whig  with  a 
strong  leaning  to  republicanism,  but  the  public 
events  of  his  later  years  greatly  modified  his 
views.  It  has  been  well  said  of  him  that  '  he  was 
an  aristocrat  by  instinct  and  a  republican  by 
caprice.'  On  the  death  of  his  nephew,  George, 
the  third  Earl,  in  1 791,  he  succeeded  to  the  earl- 
dom, but  he  never  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of 

2D 


2io         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Lords,  and  seldom  signed  his  name  as  Orford. 
He  died  at  his  house  in  Berkeley  Square  on  the 
2nd  of  March  1797,  and  was  buried  at  Houghton, 
the  family  seat  in  Norfolk. 

In  1747  Walpole  purchased  the  remainder  of 
the  lease  of  a  small  house  which  stood  near  the 
Thames  'just  out  of  Twickenham,'  popularly 
called  Chopped-Straw  Hall,  on  account  of  its 
having  been  the  residence  of  a  retired  coachman 
of  an  Earl  of  Bradford,  who  was  supposed  to 
have  made  his  money  by  starving  his  master's 
horses.  On  the  5th  of  June  1747  Walpole  writes 
to  Sir  Horace  Mann,  that  although  '  the  house  is 
so  small  that  I  can  send  it  to  you  in  a  letter  to 
look  at,  the  prospect  is  as  delightful  as  possible, 
commanding  the  river,  the  town  (Twickenham), 
and  Richmond  Park,  and  being  situated  on  a  hill 
descends  to  the  Thames  through  two  or  three 
little  meadows,  where  I  have  some  Turkish  sheep 
and  two  cows,  all  studied  in  their  colours  for 
becoming  the  view.'  This  cottage  grew  into  the 
Gothic  mansion  of  Strawberry  Hill,  the  erection 
and  embellishment  of  which  formed  for  so  many 
years  the  principal  occupation  and  amusement  of 
Walpole's  life.  Here  he  collected  works  of  art 
and  curiosities  of  every  kind — pictures,  miniatures, 
prints  and  drawings,  armour,  coins,  and  china, 
together  with  a  fine  library  of  about  fifteen 
thousand  volumes,  chiefly  of  antiquarian  and 
historical  subjects.     These  he  acquired  with  the 


HORACE  WALPOLE  2[i 

emoluments  of  three  sinecure  offices  which  his 
father  had  obtained  for  him. 

In  1757  Walpole  set  up  a  printing-press  in  a 
small  cottage  adjoining  his  residence,  and  this 
continued  in  use  until  his  death  in  1797.  Gray's 
Odes,  in  a  handsome  quarto,  was  the  first  of  a 
large  number  of  works  and  fugitive  pieces,  many 


:*wr ^w@r& 


Vignette  of  Strawberry  Hill. 
Used  in  books  printed  at  Walpole's  Press. 


from  his  own  pen,  which  issued  from  it.  An 
excellent  account  of  the  press,  by  Mr.  H.  B. 
Wheatley,  F.S.A.,  will  be  found  in  Biblio- 
graphica,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  83-98.  Walpole  was  the 
author  of  many  works,  but  his  literary  reputation 
now  rests  mainly  on  his  letters.  Mr.  Austin 
Dobson,  in  his  delightful  Memoir  of  Walpole, 
says  of  them  that  '  for  diversity  of  interest  and 
perpetual  entertainment,  for  the  constant  surprises 


212         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

of  an  unique  species  of  wit,  for  happy  and 
unexpected  turns  of  phrase,  for  graphic  charac- 
terisation and  clever  anecdote,  for  playfulness, 
pungency,  irony,  persiflage,  there  is  nothing  like 
his  letters  in  English.'  A  collected  edition  of 
his  works,  edited  by  Mary  Berry,  under  the  name 
of  her  father,  Robert  Berry,  was  published  in 
1798  in  five  volumes. 

Although  the  library  formed  by  Walpole  at 
Strawberry  Hill  consisted  principally  of  works 
'which  no  gentleman's  library  should  be  without,' 
it  also  contained  some  beautiful  manuscripts,  a 
goodly  number  of  rare  books  of  the  Elizabethan 
and  Jacobean  times,  and  an  immense  collection  of 
interesting  papers  and  letters,  prints  and  portraits. 
Many  of  the  prints  were  by  the  great  engravers  of 
the  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  centuries. 
The  most  notable  of  the  manuscripts  were  a  copy 
of  the  Psalms  of  David  on  vellum,  with  twenty- 
one  illuminations  attributed  to  Giulio  Clovio ;  a 
magnificent  '  Missal,'  executed  for  Claude,  Queen 
Consort  of  Francis  1.,  King  of  France ;  and  a  folio 
volume  of  old  English  poetry,  written  on  vellum, 
from  the  library  of  Ralph  Thoresby,  the  antiquary. 
Among  the  more  important  of  the  collections  of 
papers  and  letters  were  those  of  Sir  Julius  Caesar, 
which  contained  letters  of  James  1.,  Henry,  Prince 
of  Wales,  the  King  and  Queen  of  Bohemia,  and 
most  of  the  leading  nobility  and  gentry  of  the 
time  of  Elizabeth  and  James  1. ;    Sir  Sackville 


HORACE  WALPOLE  213 

Crowe's  Book  of  Accounts  of  the  Privy  Purse  of 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham  in  his  different  journeys 
into  France,  Spain,  and  the  Low  Countries  with 
Prince  Charles  ;  the  manuscripts  bequeathed  to 
Walpole  by  Madame  du  Deffand,  together  with 
upwards  of  eight  hundred  letters  addressed  by 
her  to  him ;  and  Vertue's  manuscripts  in  twenty- 
eight  volumes.  Sir  Julius  Caesar's  travelling 
library,  consisting  of  forty-four  duodecimo 
volumes,  bound  in  white  vellum,  and  enclosed 
in  an  oak  case  covered  with  light  olive  morocco, 
elegantly  tooled,  and  made  to  resemble  a  folio 
volume  (now  in  the  British  Museum) ;  and  the 
identical  copy  of  Homer  used  by  Pope  for  his 
translation,  with  the  inscription,  '  Finished  y* 
translation  in  Feb.  1719-20 — A.  Pope,'  and  con- 
taining a  pencil  sketch  of  Twickenham  Church  by 
the  poet,  were  among  the  most  interesting  printed 
books  in  the  library.  A  remarkable  and  beautiful 
collection  of  about  forty  original  drawings,  being 
portraits  of  Francis  the  First  and  Second  of 
France,  and  the  members  of  their  Courts,  taken 
from  life  in  pencil,  tinted  with  red  chalk,  by 
Janet ;  Callot's  Pocket  Book,  with  drawings  by 
this  master;  and  fine  collections  of  the  works 
of  Vertue  and  Hogarth  also  deserve  to  be 
mentioned. 

After  Walpole's  death  Strawberry  Hill  and  its 
contents  passed  to  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Darner,  the 
sculptress,  daughter  of  his  cousin,  Field-Marshal 


2i4  ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Conway,  together  with  two  thousand  a  year  for 
its  maintenance.  After  residing  in  it  for  some 
time  Mrs.  Darner  found  the  situation  lonely,  and 
gave  up  the  house  and  property  to  the  Countess 
Dowager  Waldegrave,  in  whom  the  fee  was  vested 
under  Walpole's  will.  In  1842,  George,  seventh 
Earl  Waldegrave,  to  whom  Strawberry  Hill  had 
descended,  ordered  the  contents  to  be  sold  by 
George  Robins,  the  well-known  auctioneer.  The 
sale  was  advertised  to  occupy  twenty-four  days, 
from  April  25th  to  May  21st.  The  catalogue 
was  badly  compiled,  and  so  much  dissatisfaction 
was  expressed  at  the  intention  of  selling  some  of 
the  collections  en  masse,  that  the  contents  of  the 
seventh  and  eighth  days'  sale,  which  consisted  of 
prints,  drawings,  and  illustrated  books,  were  with- 
drawn, re-catalogued,  and  disposed  of  at  a  sale  at 
Robins's  rooms  at  Covent  Garden,  which  lasted 
from  the  13th  to  the  23rd  of  June.  The  amount 
realised  at  the  sale  at  Strawberry  Hill  was  twenty- 
nine  thousand  six  hundred  and  twelve  pounds, 
sixteen  shillings  and  threepence ;  and  at  that  in 
London,  three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  pounds,  fifteen  shillings  and  sixpence.  The 
library,  consisting  of  books,  manuscripts,  prints, 
etc.,  sold  for  about  seven  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  forty  pounds.  The  copy  of  the  Psalms,  with 
illuminations  ascribed  to  Giulio  Clovio,  fetched 
four  hundred  and  forty-one  pounds ;  the  volume 
of  English    poetry,    two    hundred    and    twenty 


RALPH  WILLETT  215 

pounds,  ten  shillings ;  the  '  Missal '  executed  for 
Queen  Claude,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  pounds, 
ten  shillings ;  and  the  manuscripts  and  letters  of 
Madame  du  Deffand,  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
pounds,  ten  shillings. 


RALPH  WILLETT,  1 719-1795 

Ralph  Willett,  the  collector  of  the  famous 
Merly  Library,  was  born  in  17 19.  He  was  the 
elder  son  of  Henry  Willett,  of  the  island  of 
St.  Christopher  in  the  West  Indies.  In  1736 
he  matriculated  at  the  University  of  Oxford  from 
Oriel  College,  but  did  not  take  a  degree ;  and  in 
1739  he  was  admitted  a  student  at  Lincoln's  Inn. 
Willett  early  developed  a  taste  for  books  and 
pictures,  and  his  inheritance  of  the  family  estates 
in  the  West  Indies,  on  the  death  of  his  father  in 
1740,  enabled  him  to  form  splendid  collections 
of  them.  In  1751  he  purchased  a  property  at 
Merly,  near  Wimborne,  Dorsetshire,  where  in 
1752  he  built  a  noble  mansion,  which  later  he 
enlarged  by  adding  two  wings,  in  one  of  which 
he  constructed  a  handsome  room  for  a  library, 
which  he  ornamented  with  frescoes  and  arabesque 
designs.  A  description  of  this  library,  written 
by  Willett  in  English  and  French,  was  printed 
in  1776  in  octavo,  and  reprinted  in  1785  by  John 
Nichols  in  a  large  folio  volume,  with  twenty-five 


2i6    ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

illustrations  of  the  designs.  His  London  house 
was  in  Dean  Street,  Soho.  Willett  was  elected 
a  Fellow  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  in  1763, 
and  contributed  two  papers  on  The  Origin  of 
Printing  to  the  Archceologia,  which  were  re- 
printed at  Newcastle  in  1818-20;  and  a  third 
on  British  Naval  Architecture.  In  1764 
he  was  also  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society.  He  died  on  the  13th  of  January 
1795.  Willett,  who  was  twice  married,  but  left 
no  issue,  bequeathed  his  property  to  his  cousin 
John  Willett  Adye,  who  took  the  name  of  Willett, 
and  was  M.P.  for  New  Romney  from  1796  to 
1806.  This  gentleman,  shortly  before  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  26th  of  September  18 15, 
parted  with  the  collections  which  had  been  left 
to  him.  The  pictures  were  sold  by  Peter  Coxe 
and  Co.  on  May  31st,  18 13,  and  two  following 
days,  and  the  books  by  Leigh  and  Sotheby 
on  December  6th,  and  sixteen  following  days. 
The  same  auctioneers  also  sold  the  botanical 
drawings,  of  which  there  was  a  large  number, 
on  the  20th  and  21st  of  December;  and  the 
books  of  prints  on  the  20th  of  February 
in  the  succeeding  year.  The  books  were  dis- 
posed of  in  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
twenty  lots,  and  realised  thirteen  thousand  five 
hundred  and  eight  pounds,  four  shillings.  The 
sale  catalogue  states  that  the  library  consisted  of 
4  a  most  rare  assemblage  of  the  early  printers, 


RALPH  WILLETT  217 

fine  specimens  of  block-printing,  old  English 
chronicles,  etc.,  in  the  finest  preservation,  likewise 
an  extensive  and  magnificent  collection  of  books 
in  every  department  of  literature,  from  the 
earliest  period  to  the  present  time.  All  the 
books  are  in  the  finest  condition,  many  printed 
on  vellum  and  on  large  paper,  and  bound  in 
morocco  and  russia  leathers.  Likewise  a  most 
splendid  missal ;  and  a  very  choice  selection  of 
botanical  drawings,  by  Van  Huysum,  Taylor, 
Brown,  Lee,  etc' 

The  block-books  in  the  collection  comprised 
a  Biblia  Pauperum,  which  realised  two  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  pounds,  five  shillings  ;  the  first 
and  another  edition  of  the  Speculum  Humance 
Salvationis,  which  sold  for  three  hundred  and 
fifteen  pounds  and  two  hundred  and  fifty-two 
pounds ;  and  the  Apocalypse  of  St.  John,  which 
fetched  forty-two  pounds.  There  were  seven 
Caxtons  —  the  first  edition  of  the  Dictes  or 
Sayings  of  the  Philosophers,  Tully  of  Old  Age, 
the  Polychronicon,  the  second  edition  of  the  Game 
of  the  Chesse,  the  Confessio  A  mantis,  the  second 
edition  of  the  Mirrour  of  the  World,  and  Diverse 
Ghostly  Matters.  These  realised  altogether  one 
thousand  three  hundred  and  eighteen  pounds, 
sixteen  shillings ;  the  Dictes  and  the  Confessio 
A  mantis  fetching  the  highest  prices  —  three 
hundred  and  fifteen  pounds,  and  two  hundred 
and  sixty-two  pounds,  ten  shillings. 

2  E 


218         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Some  of  the  many  other  notable  books  in  the 
library,  and  the  prices  obtained  for  them,  were  a 
copy  of  the  Mentz  Psalter  of  1459  on  vellum, 
sixty-three  pounds  ;  Rationale  Divinorum  Offici- 
ornm  of  Durandus  (Mentz,  1459),  one  hundred 
and  h\z  pounds ;  the  Catholicon  of  Joannes 
Balbus  (Mentz,  1460),  sixty  pounds,  eighteen 
shillings ;  the  Constitutiones  of  Pope  Clement  v. 
(Mentz,  1460),  sixty-six  pounds,  three  shillings ; 
Latin  Bible  (Mentz,  1462),  one  hundred  and  five 
pounds ;  the  Officia  of  Cicero  (Mentz,  1465), 
seventy-three  pounds,  ten  shillings ;  Latin  Bible 
on  vellum  (Venice,  1476),  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  pounds ;  Rhetorica  Nova,  by  Laurentius  de 
Saona  (St.  Albans,  1480),  seventy-nine  pounds, 
sixteen  shillings ;  a  vellum  copy  of  the  first 
edition  of  Homer  (Florence,  1488),  eighty-eight 
pounds,  four  shillings ;  a  nearly  complete  set  of 
De  Bry's  collections  in  seven  volumes,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-six  pounds ;  and  a  large 
paper  copy  of  Prynne's  Records  in  three  volumes, 
London,  1665-70,  one  hundred  and  fifty-two 
pounds,  five  shillings.  The  '  splendid '  manu- 
script missal,  specially  mentioned  in  the  sale 
catalogue,  sold  for  one  hundred  and  five  pounds. 


DR.  ANTHONY  ASKEW  219 


DR.  ANTHONY  ASKEW,   1722-1774 

Dr.  Anthony  Askew,  M.D.,  was  born  at  Kendal, 
Westmoreland,  in  the  year  1722.  His  father 
was  Dr.  Adam  Askew,  an  eminent  physician  of 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  He  received  his  education 
at  Sedbergh  School,  the  Grammar  School  of 
Newcastle,  and  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge. 
He  took  the  degree  of  M.B.  in  1745,  and  that 
of  M.D.  five  years  later.  After  leaving  the 
University  he  went  to  Leyden,  where  he  re- 
mained twelve  months  studying  medicine,  and 
then  undertook  an  extensive  tour  on  the  Con- 
tinent, during  which  he  purchased  a  large  number 
of  valuable  books  and  manuscripts.  Dibdin  says 
he  was  well  known  as  a  collector  in  most  parts 
of  Europe.  In  1750,  having  finished  his  travels, 
Askew  returned  to  Cambridge,  where  he  practised 
for  some  time  as  a  physician.  He  afterwards 
removed  to  London,  where,  aided  by  the  patronage 
and  support  of  his  friend  Dr.  Mead,  he  soon 
acquired  a  considerable  reputation,  but  he  is 
better  known  as  a  scholar  than  a  physician. 
Dr.  Parr  entertained  a  very  high  opinion  of 
his  attainments  in  Greek  and  Roman  literature. 
Askew  was  a  Fellow  and  Registrar  of  the  College 
of  Physicians,  and  also  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society.  He  died  at  Hampstead  on  the  27th 
of  February  1774. 


220         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Dr.  Askew  was  an  indefatigable  collector,  and 
filled  his  house  from  the  ground  floor  to  the 
attics  with  rare  and  handsomely  bound  books. 
The  library,  which  numbered  about  seven  thou- 
sand volumes,  was  extremely  rich  in  early  editions 
of  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics,  and  its  owner 
was  ambitious  that  it  should  contain  every 
edition  of  a  Greek  author.  It  comprised  the  first 
editions  of  the  De  Officiis  of  Cicero,  the  Natural 
History  of  Pliny,  Cornelius  Nepos,  the  History 
of  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  the  Fables  of  ^Esop, 
the  Works  of  Plato,  and  of  many  other  Greek 
and  Latin  writers ;  the  greater  number  of  them 
being  printed  on  vellum.  A  vellum  copy  of  the 
Rationale  of  Durandus,  printed  by  Fust  and 
Schoeffer  at  Mentz  in  1459;  a  first  edition  of 
the  Teseide  of  Boccaccio,  printed  on  vellum  at 
Ferrara  in  1475 ;  a  copy  of  the  Greek  An- 
tlwlogy,  also  on  vellum,  printed  at  Florence  in 
1494 ;  Tully  of  Old  Age,  printed  by  Caxton, 
and  a  fine  vellum  copy  of  the  Tewrdannck,  were 
a  few  of  the  other  notable  books  in  the  collection. 

The  printed  books  in  the  library  were  sold 
by  Baker  and  Leigh  at  their  auction  rooms  in 
York  Street,  Covent  Garden,  on  the  13th  of 
February  1775,  and  the  nineteen  following  days. 
The  lots  were  three  thousand  five  hundred  and 
seventy  in  number,  and  realised  three  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  ninety-three  pounds  and  six- 
pence.    Among  the  purchasers  at  the  sale  were 


Ki.v.  C.  M.  Cracherode. 


REV.  C.  M.  CRACHERODE  221 

King  George  in.,  Louis  xvi.,  King  of  France, 
Dr.  Hunter  and  the  Rev.  C.  M.  Cracherode. 
The  British  Museum  also  acquired  a  consider- 
able number  of  the  books.  The  manuscripts, 
and  the  printed  books  with  manuscript  notes, 
were  sold  by  Leigh  and  Sotheby  in  1785.  The 
sale  took  place  on  March  the  7th  and  the  eight 
subsequent  days.  There  were  six  hundred  and 
thirty-three  lots,  which  produced  eighteen  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  pounds. 

Askew  was  the  author  of  a  manuscript  volume 
of  Greek  and  Latin  Inscriptions,  copied  by  him 
during  his  travels  in  Greece  and  the  Levant. 
The  collection  is  preserved  among  the  Burney 
Manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum. 


REV.  C.  M.  CRACHERODE,  1730-1799 

The  Rev.  Clayton  Mordaunt  Cracherode, 
to  whom  the  British  Museum  is  indebted  for 
some  of  its  most  precious  collections,  was  the 
son  of  Colonel  Mordaunt  Cracherode,  who  com- 
manded the  Marines  in  Anson's  voyage  round 
the  world.  He  was  born  at  Taplow  in  1730, 
and  was  educated  at  Westminster  and  Christ 
Church,  Oxford,  taking  the  degree  of  B.A.  in 
1750,  and  that  of  M.A.  in  1753.  After  leaving 
the  University  he  took  holy  orders,  and  for  some 


222         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

time  was  curate  of  Binsey,  near  Oxford,  but  he 
did  not  seek  any  preferment  in  the  Church.  On 
the  death  of  his  father  he  inherited  a  fortune 
of  about  three  thousand  pounds  a  year,  which 
enabled  him  to  acquire  a  library  of  not  less  than 
four  thousand  five  hundred  volumes,  remarkable 
for  their  rarity  and  beauty ;  seven  portfolios  of 
drawings  by  the  great  masters,  and  a  hundred 
portfolios  of  prints,  many  of  which  were  almost 
priceless ;  and  in  addition  to  these  a  splendid 
collection  of  coins  and  gems,  and  a  cabinet  of 
minerals.  Mr.  Cracherode,  who  never  married, 
was  a  shy,  retiring  man,  who  lived  entirely 
among  his  collections,  and  it  is  said  that  he 
never  mounted  a  horse,  nor  travelled  a  greater 
distance  than  from  London  to  Oxford.  One 
great  drawback  to  the  happiness  of  his  quiet  life 
was  the  dread  that  he  might  possibly  be  called 
upon  to  officiate  at  a  coronation  as  the  King's 
cupbearer,  as  his  manor  of  Great  Wymondley 
was  held  from  the  Crown  subject  to  the  per- 
formance of  this  duty.  Dibdin,  in  his  Biblio- 
graphical Decameron,  says  of  him  that  he  had 
1  a  dash  of  the  primitiveness  of  the  old  school 
about  him,  and  that  his  manners  were  easy, 
polished  and  engaging.  He  was  a  thorough 
gentleman,  and  no  mean  scholar.'  He  devoted 
his  life  to  his  favourite  pursuit,  the  formation 
of  his  collections ;  and  Edwards,  in  his  Lives  of 
the  Founders  of  the  British  Museum,  tells  us 


REV.  C.  M.  CRACHERODE  223 

that — '  For  almost  forty  years  it  was  his  daily 
practice  to  walk  from  his  house  in  Queen 
Square,  Westminster,  to  the  shop  of  Elmsly, 
a  bookseller  in  the  Strand,  and  thence  to  the 
still  more  noted  shop  of  Tom  Payne,  by  the 
14  Mews-Gate."  Once  a  week,  he  varied  the  daily 
walk  by  calling  on  Mudge,  a  chronometer-maker, 
to  get  his  watch  regulated.  His  excursions  had, 
indeed,  one  other  and  not  infrequent  variety — 
dictated  by  the  calls  of  Christian  benevolence — 
but  of  these  he  took  care  to  have  no  note  taken. 
.  .  .  The  ruling  passion  kept  its  strength  to  the 
last.  An  agent  was  buying  prints,  for  addition 
to  the  store,  when  the  Collector  was  dying. 
About  four  days  before  his  death,  Mr.  Cracherode 
mustered  strength  to  pay  a  farewell  visit  to  the 
old  shop  at  the  Mews-Gate.  He  put  a  finely 
printed  Terence  (from  the  press  of  Foulis)  into 
one  pocket,  and  a  large  paper  Cedes  into  another ; 
and  then — with  a  longing  look  at  a  certain  choice 
Homer,  in  the  course  of  which  he  mentally,  and 
somewhat  doubtingly,  balanced  its  charms  with 
those  of  its  twin  brother  in  Queen  Square — 
parted  finally  from  the  daily  haunt  of  forty 
peripatetic  and  studious  years.'  Mr.  Cracherode 
is  also  mentioned  in  the  Pursuits  of  Literature, 
by  T.  J.  Mathias  : — 

'  Or  must  I,  as  a  wit,  with  learned  air, 
Like  Doctor  Dibdin,  to  Tom  Payne's  repair, 
Meet  Cyril  Jackson  and  mild  Cracherode  there  ? 


224         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

"  Hold  !  "  cries  Tom  Payne,  ■  that  margin  let  me  measure, 
And  rate  the  separate  value  of  the  treasure." 
Eager  they  gaze.     u  Well,  Sirs,  the  feat  is  done. 
Cracherode's  Poeta  Printipes  have  won." ' 

Mr.  Cracherode,  who  was  a  Fellow  of  the 
Royal  Society  and  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries, 
and  a  Trustee  of  the  British  Museum,  died  at 
Queen  Square  on  the  5th  of  April  1799,  and 
was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey.  He  be- 
queathed the  whole  of  his  collections  to  the 
nation,  with  the  exception  of  two  books.  A 
copy  of  the  Complutensian  Polyglot  Bible  was 
given  to  Shute  Barrington,  Bishop  of  Durham, 
and  a  princeps  Homer,  once  the  property  of  De 
Thou,  to  Cyril  Jackson,  Dean  of  Christ  Church  ; 
but  these  volumes  ultimately  rejoined  their  former 
companions  in  the  British  Museum. 

The  library  formed  by  Mr.  Cracherode  is 
marvellously  rich  in  choice  copies  of  rare  and 
early  editions  of  the  classics ;  a  large  proportion 
of  them  being  printed  on  vellum.  The  volumes 
are  almost  always  in  faultless  condition,  and 
beautifully  bound.  Many  of  them  were  once  to 
be  found  in  such  renowned  collections  as  those 
of  Grolier,  Maioli,  Henry  11.  of  France  and  Diana 
of  Poitiers,  Katharine  de'  Medici,  De  Thou, 
Longepierre,  Count  von  Hoym,  etc. ;  and  have 
bindings  by  Nicolas  and  Clovis  Eve,  Le  Gascon, 
Padeloup,  Derome,  and  Roger  Payne.  Among 
them  are  magnificent  copies  of  the  editions  of 


REV.  C.  M.  CRACHERODE 


225 


Pliny  printed  at  Venice  by  Joannes  de  Spira  in 
1469,  and  by  Nicolas  Jenson  in  1476.  The 
latter  formerly  belonged  to  Grolier,  and  the 
binding  bears  his  well-known  motto.  A  copy 
of  the  first  edition  of  AELsop's  Fables,  printed  at 
Milan  about  1480,  and  a  very  beautiful  example 
of  the  first  edition  of  the  Greek 
Anthology,  on  vellum,  printed 
in  capitals  by  Lauren tius  de 
Alopa  at  Florence  in  1494,  in 
the  original  binding,  are  also 
deserving  of  special  notice. 
Other  remarkable  and  interest- 
ing books  are  the  Greek  Gram- 
mar of  Lascaris,  printed  at 
Milan  in  1476 ;  the  Liber 
Psalmorum,  printed  at  Milan 
in  1 48 1  ;  Maioli's  copy  of  the 
Hypnerotomachia  Poliphili,  printed  at  Venice 
by  Aldus  in  1499  >  an(^  a  ^ne  coPv  °f  Petrarch's 
Sonetti  e  Canzoni,  on  vellum,  printed  by  Aldus 
in  1501,  which  formerly  belonged  to  Isabella 
d'Este,  wife  of  Gian-Francesco  Gonzaga,  Marquis 
of  Mantua.  This  was  the  first  Italian  book 
printed  in  italic  type. 

The  library  contains  three  Caxtons  :  Boethius 
de  Consolatione  Philosophies,  the  Mirrour  of  the 
World,  and  the  Boke  of  Eneydos. 

A  copy  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament  on 
vellum,   which   once  belonged   to   Queen   Anne 

2F 


Armorial  Book-stamp 

of  the 
Rev.  C.  M.  Cracherode. 


226         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Boleyn,  with  her  arms  emblazoned  on  the  title- 
page,  and  the  words  '  Anna  Regina  Angliae ' 
painted  in  gold  on  the  edges  of  the  leaves,  and 
a  handsome  Shakespeare  first  folio,  ought  also 
to  be  mentioned. 

Mr.  Cracherode's  classical  attainments  were 
by  no  means  inconsiderable,  but  his  only  writings 
were  a  Latin  poem  printed  in  the  Carmina 
Quadragesimalia  of  1748,  and  some  Latin  verses 
in  the  collection  of  the  University  of  Oxford  on 
the  death  of  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  in  1751. 

A  portrait  of  Mr.  Cracherode  appears  in 
Clarke's  Repcrtorium  BibliograpJiicum,  and  in 
Dibdin's  Bibliographical  Decameron.  This  was 
engraved,  contrary  to  his  express  wishes,  from 
a  drawing  made  by  Edridge  for  Lady  Spencer. 
An  explanation  is  given  by  Dr.  Dibdin  of  the 
circumstances  under  which  the  likeness  was 
reproduced. 


JOHN  TOWNELEY,  1731-1813 

John  Towneley,  who  was  born  on  the  15th  of 
June  1 73 1,  and  died  on  the  13th  of  May  181 3, 
was  the  younger  son  of  Richard  Towneley  of 
Towneley,  in  the  county  of  Lancaster,  and  Mary, 
daughter  of  William,  Lord  W'iddrington.  He 
married  Barbara,  fourth  daughter  of  Edward 
Dicconson  of  Wrightington,  in  the  county  of  Lan- 


JOHN  TOWNELEY  227 

caster,  by  whom  he  had  a  daughter,  Barbara,  who 
married  Sir  William  Stanley,  Bart,  of  Hooton, 
and  a  son,  Peregrine  Edward,  who  succeeded  to 
the  estates.  Dibdin,  in  his  Bibliographical 
Decameron,  informs  us  that  '  Mr.  Towneley  had 
one  of  the  finest  figures,  as  an  elderly  gentleman 
(for  he  died  at  82),  that  could  possibly  be  seen. 
His  stature  was  tall  and  frame  robust ;  his  gait 
was  firm ;  his  countenance  was  Roman-like ;  his 
manners  were  conciliatory,  and  his  language  was 
unassuming.  His  habits  were  simple  and 
perhaps  severe.  He  generally  rose  at  five,  and 
lighted  his  own  library  fire — and  his  health  was 
manifest  in  his  person  and  countenance.  He 
was  entirely  an  unpretending  man — and  may  be 
said  to  have  collected  rather  from  the  pleasure 
and  reputation  attached  to  such  pursuits  than 
from  a  thorough  and  keen  relish  of  the  kind  of 
taste  which  it  imparts.  He  had  an  ample  purse, 
and  it  was  most  liberally  unstrung  when  there 
was  occasion  for  effectual  aid.  This  observation 
may  equally  apply  to  matters  out  of  the  biblio- 
maniacal  record ;  but  as  a  book-purchaser  he 
was  considered  among  the  most  heavy-metalled 
and  determined  champions  in  the  field.' 

The  library  formed  by  Mr.  Towneley  was  a 
particularly  good  one,  and  it  was  remarkable  for 
the  large  number  of  rare  and  fine  examples  it 
possessed  of  books  from  the  presses  of  Caxton, 
Pynson,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  Julian  Notary,  and 


228         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

other  early  English  printers.  No  fewer  than 
nine  Caxtons  were  to  be  found  on  its  shelves,  and 
Pynson  and  Wynkyn  de  Worde  were  especially 
well  representee!.     Among  the  Caxtons  were  the 


first  edition  of  the  Dictes  or  Sayings  of  the  Philo- 
sophers, the  Fayts  of  Arms,  and  Troilus  and 
Creside,  together  with  the  Life  of  St.  Katherine, 
published  by  Caxton's   executors.     Perhaps  the 


JOHN  TOWNELEY  229 

most  important  of  the  other  early  English  books 
were  Boccaccio's  Falle  of  Princis,  translated  by 
Lydgate,  and  Froissart's  Cronycle,  both  printed 
by  Pynson ;  and  the  Vitas  Patrum  and  the 
Kalender  of  Shepeherdes  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde. 
The  library  also  contained  some  exceedingly  rare 
and  valuable  manuscripts,  of  which  some  of  the 
most  notable  were  a  famous  copy  of  the  Iliad, 
a  Pontificate  of  Pope  Innocent  iv.,  and  a  very 
interesting  and  curious  collection  of  English 
Miracle-Plays  acted  at  Wakefield  in  the  four- 
teenth and  fifteenth  centuries.1  Of  the  copy  of 
the  Iliad,  Clarke  in  his  Repertorium  Bibliogra- 
phicum  remarks: — 'This  is  the  identical  manu- 
script which  was  formerly  in  the  possession  of 
Victorius  and  Salviati  at  Florence,  the  supposed 
loss  of  which  had  been  deplored  for  more  than 
two  centuries.  Critics  have  unanimously  as- 
signed to  it  a  very  remote  period  of  antiquity. 
It  is  written  upon  vellum  in  a  very  fair  and 
legible  hand,  and  the  margins  are  replete  with 
most  valuable  and  important  scholia.  Heyne  has 
given  a  facsimile  of  it  in  his  Homer.  It  was 
purchased  by  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Burney,  whose 
entire  collection  is  now  deposited  in  the  British 
Museum.' 

Towneley's  books  were  sold  after  his  death,  in 
three  portions,  by  Evans  of  Pall  Mall.     The  first 

1  These  plays  were  printed  for  the  Surtees  Society  in  1836,  and  re-edited 
by  George  England,  with  side-notes  and  introduction  by  Alfred  W. 
Pollard,  M.A.,  in  1897,  for  the  Early  English  Text  Society. 


230        ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

sale  took  place  on  June  8th,  1814,  and  six  follow- 
ing days.  It  comprised  nine  hundred  and  five 
lots,  which  realised  five  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  pounds,  four  shillings.  The 
second  sale  occurred  on  June  19th,  1815,  and 
nine  following  days,  and  the  seventeen  hundred 
and  three  lots  in  it  fetched  two  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  seven  pounds,  sixteen  shil- 
lings. The  third  sale  consisted  only  of  a  few 
remaining  books,  which  were  disposed  of  in  con- 
junction with  the  library  of  Mr.  Auditor  Harley  on 
May  22nd,  1817,  and  six  following  days.  Eleven 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  pounds,  two  shillings 
were  obtained  for  the  nine  Caxtons ;  the  Troilus 
and  Creside,  the  Life  of  St,  Katherine,  and  the 
Dictes  or  Sayings  of  the  Philosophers  fetching 
the  highest  prices,  viz.  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  pounds,  two  shillings,  two  hundred  and 
thirty-one  pounds,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
nine  pounds.  Bochas's  Falle  of  Princis  and 
Froissart's  Cronycle  realised  twenty-seven  pounds, 
sixteen  shillings  and  sixpence,  and  forty-two 
pounds ;  and  the  Vitas  Pat  rum  and  the  Kalender 
of  Shepeherdes  fifty-three  pounds,  eleven  shillings 
and  nineteen  pounds.  Eighty-five  pounds  were 
obtained  for  Henry  Boece's  Hystory  and  Croniklis 
of  Scotland,  translated  by  Bellenden,  and  printed 
by  Davidson  at  Edinburgh  in  1536;  thirty-three 
pounds,  sixteen  shillings  for  Ricraft's  Survey  of 
England s  Champions,  etc.,  London,  1647  I   an^ 


JOHN  TOWNELEY  231 

forty-eight  pounds,  six  shillings  for  a  Book  of 
Hours  printed  on  vellum  by  Julian  Notary  in 
1503.  Among  the  manuscripts  the  Iliad  sold 
for  six  hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  the  Wake- 
field Miracle-Plays  for  one  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  pounds,  and  the  Pontificate  Innocentii  IV, 
for  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  pounds,  one 
shilling.  The  drawings,  prints,  etc.,  belonging 
to  Towneley  were  sold  by  King  of  38  King 
Street,  Covent  Garden,  in  May  18 16  for  fourteen 
hundred  and  fourteen  pounds,  five  shillings  and 
sixpence;  and  his  magnificent  collection  of 
Hollar's  works  was  disposed  of  by  the  same 
auctioneer  for  two  thousand  one  hundred  and 
eight  pounds,  eleven  shillings  and  sixpence  in 
May  18 1 8.  John  Towneley  was  not  the  only 
collector  of  his  family.  Charles  Towneley,  his 
nephew,  formed  a  celebrated  collection  of  marbles, 
coins,  gems,  and  drawings,  now  in  the  British 
Museum ;  and  Christopher  Towneley,  who  was 
born  in  1604  and  died  in  1674,  was  the  collector 
of  many  of  the  old  manuscripts  disposed  of  in 
the  second  sale  of  the  Towneley  library  which 
occurred  in  1883  after  the  death  of  Colonel  John 
Towneley,  when  in  default  of  a  male  heir  the 
estates  devolved  on  his  daughters  and  those  of 
his  elder  brother,  Colonel  Charles  Towneley. 

The  second  sale  of  the  Towneley  library  took 
place  in  June  1883.  The  printed  books  were 
sold  on  the  18th  and  seven  following  days,  and 


232         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

the  manuscripts  on  the  27th  and  following  day, 
by  Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hodge.  There 
were  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifteen 
lots  of  printed  books,  which  realised  four  thou- 
sand six  hundred  and  sixteen  pounds,  three 
shillings ;  and  two  hundred  and  fifty-one  lots  of 
manuscripts,  for  which  the  sum  of  four  thousand 
and  fifty-four  pounds,  six  shillings  and  sixpence 
was  obtained.  Among  the  printed  books  the 
very  rare  York  Manual,  printed  by  Wynkyn  de 
Worde  in  1509 ;  the  Pilgrymage  of  Perfection  of 
l5Zli  by  tne  same  printer,  with  the  Towneley 
arms  worked  in  silver  on  the  covers  of  the  bind- 
ing ;  and  a  large  paper  copy  of  Nichols's  History 
and  Antiquities  of  the  County  of  Leicester,  in 
eight  volumes,  were  the  most  deserving  of  special 
notice.  These  sold  respectively  for  fifty-nine 
pounds,  twenty-seven  pounds,  ten  shillings,  and 
two  hundred  and  thirty-five  pounds.  The  two 
principal  manuscripts  in  the  sale  were  a  Vita 
C/iristi,  beautifully  illuminated  by  Giulio  Clovio 
for  Alexander,  Cardinal  Farnese,  for  which  Mr. 
Quaritch  gave  two  thousand  and  fifty  pounds, 
and  the  collection  of  Wakefield  Plays,  which 
was  also  purchased  by  the  same  great  bookseller 
for  six  hundred  and  twenty  pounds.1 

1  This  collection  was  re-purchased  for  the  Towneley  library  at  the  sale 
of  Mr.  North's  books  in  May  1819  for  ninety-four  pounds,  ten  shillings. 


SIR  JOHN  THOROLD  233 


SIR  JOHN  THOROLD,  Bart.,  1734-1815 

Sir  John  Thorold,  Bart.,  of  Syston  Park, 
Grantham,  Lincolnshire,  who  was  born  in  1734, 
and  succeeded  his  father,  Sir  John  Thorold, 
eighth  baronet,  in  1775,  was  one  of  the  most 
ardent  collectors  of  his  time.  The  magnificent 
library  which  he  and  his  son  Sir  John  Hayford 
Thorold  formed  at  Syston  Park  contained  some 
of  the  rarest  incunabula  in  existence.  Among 
them  were  copies  of  the  Gutenberg  Bible;  the 
Second  Mentz  Psalter  on  vellum  ;  the  Catholicon 
of  1460 ;  the  Latin  Bible  of  1462,  with  the  arms 
and  cypher  of  Prince  Eugene  on  the  binding; 
and  the  Mirrour  of  the  IVorld,  printed  by  Caxton 
in  1 48 1.  It  also  possessed  one  of  the  earliest 
of  the  block-books,  the  Apocalypse.  The  library 
was  extremely  rich  in  first  editions  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  classics,  some  of  them  on  vellum. 
Other  choice  and  rare  books  in  the  collection 
were  a  copy  of  the  Greek  Bible,  printed  '  in  aedibus 
Aldi '  in  15 18,  described  by  Dibdin  as  '  the  largest 
and  finest  copy  I  ever  saw ' ;  the  Polyglot  Bible 
of  Cardinal  Ximenez ;  the  first  edition  of  the 
Tewrdannck ;  the  four  Shakespeare  folios ;  Pur- 
chas  his  Pilgrimmes ;  and  the  Pastissier  Fran- 
qois,  printed  by  L.  and  D.  Elzevier  at  Amsterdam 
in  1655.  There  were  also  many  editions  of 
Horce  and  Officia  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  mostly 

2G 


234        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

printed  on  vellum.  Several  of  the  Syston  Park 
books  once  formed  part  of  the  famous  libraries 
of  Grolier,  Maioli,  Diana  of  Poitiers,  Katharine 
de*  Medicis,  Count  von  Hoym,  Prince  Eugene, 
and  Sir  Kenelm  Digby.  The  collection  also  pos- 
sessed a  number  of  the  beautiful  little  volumes 
bound  by  Clovis  Eve,  which  were  once  thpught 
to  have  formed  part  of  the  library  of  Marguerite 
de  Valois,  but  are  now  believed  to  have  belonged 
to  that  of  Marie  Marguerite  de  Valois  de  Saint- 
Remy,  daughter  of  a  natural  son  of  Henry  in., 
King  of  France.  After  the  death  of  Sir  John 
Thorold  on  the  25th  of  February  18 15,  his  son 
and  successor  Sir  John  Hayford  Thorold,  having 
first  sold  the  duplicates  in  the  library,  made 
many  additions  to  it.  He  died  on  the  7th 
of  July  1 83 1,  and  fifty-three  years  later  a 
portion  of  the  books  was  sold  by  auction  by 
Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hodge.  The  sale, 
which  took  place  on  December  12th,  1884,  and 
seven  following  days,  consisted  of  two  thousand 
one  hundred  and  ten  lots,  which  realised  the  large 
sum  of  twenty-eight  thousand  and  one  pounds, 
fifteen  shillings  and  sixpence.  For  some  of  the 
rarest  of  the  books  very  large  prices  were  ob- 
tained. Mr.  Quaritch  acquired  the  Gutenberg 
Bible  for  three  thousand  nine  hundred  pounds, 
and  the  Mentz  Psalter  for  four  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  fifty.  The  Catholicon  sold  for  four 
hundred   pounds,  the  1462  Latin  Bible  for  one 


REV.  RICHARD  FARMER  235 

thousand  pounds,  The  Mirrour  of  the  World 
for  three  hundred  and  thirty-five  pounds,  the 
Aldine  Greek  Bible  for  fifty-one  pounds,  and 
the  first  Shakespeare  folio  for  five  hundred  and 
ninety  pounds. 


REV.  RICHARD  FARMER,  D.D., 

1 735-1 797 

The  Rev.  Richard  Farmer,  D.D.,  was  born  at 
Leicester  on  the  28th  of  August  1735.  He  was 
the  second  son  of  Richard  Farmer,  a  wealthy 
maltster  of  that  town.  After  receiving  his  early 
education  in  the  Free  Grammar  School  of  his 
native  place,  he  was  entered  in  1753  as  a 
pensioner  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge, 
where  he  graduated  B.A.  in  1757  and  M.A.  in 
1760.  In  the  latter  year  he  was  appointed 
classical  tutor  of  his  College ;  which  post  he  held 
until  his  election  to  the  Mastership  in  1775, 
when  he  took  the  degree  of  D.D.  He  served 
the  office  of  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  University  in 
1775-76  and  again  in  1787-88,  and  on  the  27th 
of  June  1778  was  chosen  the  Chief  Librarian  of 
the  University.  In  1780  he  was  collated  to  a 
prebendal  stall  at  Lichfield,  and  two  years  later 
became  Prebendary  of  Canterbury,  which  he 
resigned  in  1788  on  being  preferred  to  a  residen- 


236        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

tiary  canonry  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  London. 
It  is  said  that  he  twice  refused  a  bishopric 
which  was  offered  to  him  rather  than  forgo  the 
pleasure  of  witnessing  dramatic  performances 
on  the  stage.  He  died  on  the  8th  of  September 
1797,  at  the  Lodge,  Emmanuel  College,  and 
was  buried  in  the  chapel.  A  monument,  with  an 
epitaph  by  Dr.  Parr,  was  erected  to  his  memory 
in  the  cloisters. 

Dr.  Farmer,  who  was  an  elegant  scholar  and 
a  zealous  antiquary,  was  somewhat  eccentric  both 
in  his  appearance  and  manners.  It  is  said  of 
him  '  that  there  were  three  things  he  loved  above 
all  others,  namely,  old  port,  old  clothes,  and  old 
books ;  and  three  things  which  nobody  could 
persuade  him  to  do,  namely,  to  rise  in  the 
morning,  to  go  to  bed  at  night,  and  to  settle 
an  account.'1  His  reluctance  to  settle  his 
accounts,  however,  was  not  caused  by  avarice, 
but  indolence,  for  he  spent  a  considerable  portion 
of  his  large  income  in  the  relief  of  distress,  and 
in  assisting  in  the  publication  of  literary  works ; 
while  his  pupils  frequently  borrowed  of  him 
sums  of  money,  well  knowing  there  would  be 
but  little  chance  of  a  demand  for  repayment. 
Dr.  Parr,  who  was  one  of  Farmer's  intimate 
friends,  remarked  of  him  '  that  his  muni- 
ficence was  without  ostentation,  his  wit 
without    acrimony,    and     his    learning   without 

1  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 


REV.  RICHARD  FARMER  237 

pedantry.'  Farmer  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society,  and  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries.  His 
only  published  work  was  an  Essay  on  the 
Learning  of  Shakespeare,  which  appeared  in 
1767  and  went  through  four  editions,  besides 
being  prefixed  to  several  issues  of  Shakespeare's 
plays. 

Dr.  Farmer  possessed  a  well-chosen  library, 
which  was  rich  in  old  English  poetry  and  plays. 
He  himself  said  of  it  'that  not  many  private 
collections  contain  a  greater  number  of  really 
curious  and  scarce  books ;  and  perhaps  no  one  is 
so  rich  in  the  ancient  philological  English  litera- 
ture ' ;  but  Dibdin  tells  us  that  the  volumes 
'  were,  in  general,  in  sorry  condition ;  the 
possessor  caring  little  for  large  margins  and 
splendid  binding.'  The  collection  was  sold  by 
auction  by  Mr.  King,  of  King  Street,  Coven t 
Garden,  on  May  7th,  1798,  and  the  thirty-five 
following  days.  The  catalogue,  of  which  a  priced 
copy  is  in  the  British  Museum,  contains  three 
hundred  and  seventy-nine  pages,  and  the  lots, 
including  a  few  pictures,  number  eight  thousand 
one  hundred  and  fifty-five.  The  sale  realised 
two  thousand  two  hundred  and  ten  pounds,  a 
sum  said  to  be  greatly  in  excess  of  that  which 
Farmer  gave  for  his  books. 

There  is  a  portrait  of  Dr.  Farmer  by  Romney 
in  Emmanuel  College,  which  has  been  engraved 
by  J.  Jones. 


238         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


RICHARD  GOUGH,  1735-1809 

Richard  Gough,  the  eminent  antiquary,  was  the 
only  son  of  Harry  Gough,  of  Perry  Hall, 
Staffordshire.  He  was  born  in  Winchester 
Street,  London,  on  the  21st  of  October  1735, 
and  was  privately  educated  until  about  seventeen 
years  of  age,  when  he  was  admitted  a  fellow- 
commoner  of  Benet  (now  Corpus  Christi)  College, 
Cambridge.  He  left  the  University  in  1756  with- 
out taking  a  degree,  and  commenced  a  series  of 
antiquarian  excursions  into  various  parts  of  the 
kingdom  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  informa- 
tion for  an  enlarged  edition  of  Camden's 
Britannia,  which  he  published  in  London  in 
1789.  In  1767  Gough  was  elected  a  Fellow  of 
the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  and  in  1 771,  on  the 
death  of  Dr.  Gregory  Sharpe,  Master  of  the 
Temple,  was  nominated  Director,  a  post  he  held 
until  1797,  when  he  left  the  Society  altogether. 
He  was  also  chosen  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society 
in  1775,  but  resigned  in  1795.  He  died  at  Enfield 
on  the  20th  of  February  1809,  and  was  buried  in 
the  churchyard  of  Wormley,  Hertfordshire. 

Gough  wrote,  and  assisted  in  the  production 
of  numerous  topographical  and  antiquarian 
works,  and  contributed  many  articles  to  the 
Archceologia  and  the  Vetusta  Monument  a  of  the 
Society    of    Antiquaries.       A    history    of    that 


RICHARD  GOUGH  239 

institution  by  him  is  prefixed  to  the  first 
volume  of  the  first-named  publication.  The 
Gentleman 's  Magazine  also  contains  many 
papers  and  reviews  from  his  pen.  In  addition 
to  his  edition  of  Camden's  Britannia,  which 
occupied  seven  years  in  translating  and  in 
printing,  his  more  important  works  are  Anec- 
dotes of  British  Topography,  published  at 
London  in  1768,  which  was  afterwards  en- 
larged and  reprinted  in  1780  under  the  title 
of British  Topography:  or  an  historical  Account 
of  what  has  been  done  for  illustrating  the 
Topographical  Antiquities  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland;  and  The  Sepulchral  Monuments 
of  Great  Britain,  London,  1 786-99. 

Gough  possessed  a  considerable  fortune, 
which  enabled  him  to  form  an  extensive 
library,  as  well  as  a  fine  collection  of  maps, 
drawings,  prints,  coins,  and  other  antiquities. 
He  left  to  the  Bodleian  Library  'all  his  topo- 
graphical collections,  together  with  all  his  books 
relating  to  Saxon  and  Northern  literature,  for  the 
use  of  the  Saxon  Professor,  his  maps  and  en- 
gravings, and  all  the  copper-plates  used  in  the 
illustration  of  the  various  works  published  by 
himself.'1  This  collection,  which  numbered 
upwards  of  three  thousand  seven  hundred 
volumes,  was  placed,  in  accordance  with  the 
wish  expressed  in  his  will,  in  '  The  Antiquaries' 

1  Macray,  Annals  of  the  Bodleian  Library. 


24o        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Closet,'  with  the  collections  of  Dodsworth, 
Tanner,  Willis,  and  other  antiquaries.  Gouj;h 
also  gave  to  the  library  a  splendid  series  of  early 
printed  Service-books  of  the  English  Church, 
among  which  is  a  beautiful  vellum  copy  of  the 
Hereford  Missal,  printed  at  Rouen  in  1502,  and 
which  is  believed  to  be  unique.  A  catalogue  of 
the  collection  was  published  by  Dr.  Bandinel  in 
1814.  Gough  bequeathed  to  Mr.  John  Nichols 
his  interleaved  set  of  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine, 
and  of  the  Anecdotes  of  Mr,  Bowyer. 

The  remainder  of  his  books,  prints,  and 
drawings,  together  with  his  coins,  medals,  and 
other  antiquities,  were  sold,  according  to  his 
directions,  by  auction  by  Leigh  and  Sotheby 
in  1810.  The  books  realised  three  thousand 
five  hundred  and  fifty-two  pounds,  and  the 
prints,  drawings,  coins,  medals,  etc.,  five  hundred 
and  seventeen  pounds  more. 


GEORGE  STEEVENS,  1736-1800 

George  Steevens,  the  Shakesperian  commen- 
tator, who  was  born  on  the  10th  of  May  1736, 
was  the  only  son  of  George  Steevens  of  Stepney, 
for  many  years  an  East  India  captain,  and  after- 
wards a  Director  of  the  East  India  Company. 
He  received  his  early  education  at  a  school  at 
Kingston-on-Thames  and  at  Eton.     In  1753  he 


GEORGE  STEEVENS  241 

was  admitted  a  fellow-commoner  of  King's 
College,  Cambridge,  but  left  the  University 
without  taking  a  degree.  In  1766  he  published 
a  reprint  in  four  octavo  volumes  of  Twenty  of 
the  Plays  of  Shakespeare,  being  the  whole  num- 
ber printed  in  quarto  during  his  Lifetime,  etc. ; 
and  in  1773  he  brought  out,  in  association  with 
Dr.  Johnson,  an  edition  of  the  whole  of  Shake- 
speare's dramatic  works.  Steevens,  who  was  a 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  of  the  Society 
of  Antiquaries,  died  unmarried  at  Hampstead  on 
the  22nd  of  January  1800,  and  was  buried  in  the 
chapel  at  Poplar,  where  a  monument  by  Flaxman 
was  erected  to  his  memory. 

Steevens  collected  a  fine  library,  which  was 
very  rich  in  early  English  poetry  and  in  the 
plays  and  poems  of  Shakespeare.  It  contained 
the  first  and  second  folios  of  the  great  dramatist, 
and  upwards  of  forty  copies  of  the  separate  plays 
in  quarto,  many  of  them  being  first  editions. 
The  second  folio  formerly  belonged  to  King 
Charles  1.,  and  was  given  by  him  on  the  night 
before  his  execution  to  Sir  Thomas  Herbert,  his 
Groom  of  the  Bedchamber.  This  very  interesting 
volume,  in  which  the  King  has  written  '  Dum 
spiro  spero  C.  R.,'  was  bought  at  the  sale  of 
Steevens's  books  for  King  George  in.  for  eighteen 
guineas,  and  is  now  preserved  in  the  Royal 
Library  at  Windsor.  The  collection  also  com- 
prised some  rare  plays  of  Peele,  Marlowe,  and 

2H 


242         ENGLISH    BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Nash  ;  Barnabe  Googe's  Eglogs,  Epytuphes  and 
Sonnet tes ;  Puttenham's  Arte  of  English  Pot 
London,  1589;  Skelton's  Lyttle  IVorkes  and 
Merie  Tales ;  Watson's  Passionate  Centurie  of 
Love\  England's  Helicon,  collected  by  John 
Bodenham,  London,  1600 ;  IJreton's  IVorkes  of 
a  young  IVyt ;  Tlie  Paradice  of  Dainty  Devises, 
London,  1595  ;  XII  Mery  Jests  of  the  IVyddow 
Edylh,  London,  1573;  and  many  other  scarce 
and  choice  books. 

Steevens's  library  was  sold  by  auction  by 
Mr.  King  at  his  great  room,  King  Street,  Covent 
Garden,  on  May  13th,  1800,  and  ten  following 
days.  The  catalogue  contained  nineteen  hundred 
and  forty-three  lots,  which  realised  two  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  forty  pounds,  fifteen  shillings. 
A  copy  of  the  catalogue  marked  with  the  prices 
of  the  books  and  the  names  of  the  purchasers  is 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 

Although  Dibdin  considered  that  'enormous 
sums  were  given  for  some  volumes  that  cost 
Steevens  not  a  twentieth  part  of  their  produce,' 
the  prices  were  very  small  compared  with  those 
which  could  be  obtained  for  the  same  books  at 
the  present  time.  The  first  folio  of  Shakespeare's 
works  fetched  only  twenty-two  pounds,  and 
Charles  i.'s  copy  of  the  second  folio,  as  already 
mentioned,  but  eighteen  guineas.  Of  the  first 
editions  of  the  separate  quarto  plays,  Othello  sold 
for   twenty-nine  pounds,  eight  shillings;    King 


GEORGE  STEEVENS  243 

Lear  and  the  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor  for 
twenty-eight  pounds  each ;  Henry  the  Fifth  for 
twenty-seven  pounds,  six  shillings ;  A  Mid- 
summer Nighfs  Dream  for  twenty-five  pounds, 
ten  shillings  ;  and  Much  Ado  about  Nothing  for 
the  same  sum.  The  first  edition  of  Shakespeare's 
Sonnets  went  for  three  pounds,  nineteen  shillings. 
Steevens's  copies  of  the  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor 
and  the  Sonnets  fetched  respectively  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty  guineas  and  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  guineas  at  the  sale  of  the  library  of  George 
Daniel  in  1864.  Other  prices  obtained  for  some 
of  the  rare  books  were  eleven  pounds,  fifteen 
shillings  for  England's  Helicon ;  ten  pounds, 
fifteen  shillings  for  Barnabe  Googe's  Eglogs, 
Epytaphes  and  Sonne ties;  and  seven  pounds, 
ten  shillings  for  Puttenham's  Arte  of  English 
Poesie. 

Steevens,  who  led  a  very  retired  life  in  his 
house  at  Hampstead  Heath,  was  the  reverse  of 
an  amiable  man ;  and  while  he  was  very  polite 
and  courteous  to  his  literary  friends  in  private, 
he  made  bitter  attacks  upon  them  in  print. 
Dibdin  says  of  him  that  '  his  habits  were  indeed 
peculiar :  not  much  to  be  envied  or  imitated ;  as 
they  sometimes  betrayed  the  flights  of  a  mad- 
man, and  sometimes  the  asperities  of  a  cynic. 
His  attachments  were  warm,  but  fickle  both  in 
choice  and  duration.  He  would  frequently  part 
from  one,  with  whom  he  had  lived  on  terms  of 


244         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTOR^ 

close  intimacy,  without  any  assignable  cause , 
and  his  enmities,  once  fixed,  were  immovable.' 
Dr.  Parr  said  of  him  that  '  he  was  one  of  the 
wisest,  most  learned,  but  most  spiteful  of  men.' 
Dr.  Johnson,  however,  thought  'he  was  mis- 
chievous, but  not  malignant.' 


JAMES  BINDLEY,  1737-1818 

Mr.  James  Bindley  was  the  second  son  of 
Mr.  John  Bindley,  distiller,  of  St.  John's  Street, 
Smithfield.  He  was  born  in  London  on  the 
1 6th  of  January  1737,  and  was  educated  at  the 
Charterhouse,  from  whence  he  proceeded  to 
Peterhouse,  Cambridge,  taking  the  degree  of  B.A. 
in  1759,  and  that  of  M.A.  in  1762.  Later  he 
became  a  Fellow  of  his  College.  In  1 765,  through 
the  interest  of  his  elder  brother  John,  he  was 
appointed  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Stamp  Duties,  and  in  1781  rose  to  be  the  Senior 
Commissioner,  a  post  he  held  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  at  his  apartments  in  Somerset 
House  on  the  nth  of  September  1818.  He  was 
a  Fellow  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  for  up- 
wards of  fifty-three  years.  A  handsome  monu- 
ment to  his  memory  was  erected  in  the  church  of 
St.  Mary-le-Strand.  Bindley  formed  a  very  large 
and  valuable  collection  of  rare  books,  engravings, 
and  medals,  which  he  commenced  at  a  very  early 


JAMES  BINDLEY  245 

age,  and  to  which  he  devoted  all  his  spare  time 
and  money.  When  only  fifteen  years  of  age  he 
constantly  frequented  the  book-shops,  where  he 
bought  everything  which  he  considered  rare  or 
curious.      He  was   a  man  of  very  regular  and 


retired  habits,  and  it  is  said  of  him,  that  during 
the  long  period  he  held  the  appointment  of  Com- 
missioner of  the  Stamp  Duties,  '  he  never  once 
failed  in  his  daily  attendance  at  the  Board,  or 
once  slept  out  of  his  own  apartments  since  he 
left  his  house  at  Finchley  to  reside  in  Somerset 


M 6         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

House.' 1  Bindley  published  in  1775  A  Collection 
of  tlie  Statutes  tiow  in  force  relating  to  the 
Stamp  Duties ;  and  he  read  all  the  proof-sheets 
of  Nichols's  Anecdotes  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury, which  are  dedicated  to  him,  and  also  of 
the  early  volumes  of  The  Illustrations  of  the 
Literary  History  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  by 
the  same  author.  He  performed  the  same  work 
for  the  Memoirs  of  John  Evelyn ,  edited  by 
William  Bray  in  181 8. 

Bindley's  library  was  a  remarkably  fine  one, 
and  few  collections  have  contained  a  larger 
number  of  works  of  early  English  literature, 
especially  of  those  of  the  time  of  Elizabeth  and 
James  1.  Many  of  these  books  were  excessively 
rare,  and  some  of  them  unique.  Among  them 
were  the  Venus  and  Adonis  of  Shakespeare, 
printed  in  1602;  his  Poems  printed  in  1640,  and 
several  of  the  first  editions  of  his  separate  plays 
in  quarto.  The  library  also  comprised  a  large 
portion  of  the  extraordinary  collection  of  poetical 
sheets,  consisting  of  ballads,  satires,  elegies,  etc., 
formed  by  Narcissus  Luttrell,  who,  Sir  Walter 
Scott  says,  '  seems  to  have  bought  every  poetical 
tract,  of  whatever  merit,  which  was  hawked  about 
the  streets  in  his  time,  marking  carefully  the 
price  and  date  of  the  purchase.' 

After  Bindley's  death  his  books  were  sent  to 
Evans  of  Pall  Mall  for  sale.    They  were  disposed 

1  Gentleman's  Magazine,  vol.  lxxviii.  part  ii.  p.  631. 


JAMES  BINDLEY  247 

of  in  five  portions.  The  first  sale  took  place  in 
December  181 8,  and  the  fifth,  which  consisted  of 
omissions,  in  January  1821.  There  were  nine 
thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-three  lots  in 
the  five  sales,  which  occupied  forty-six  days,  and 
realised  upwards  of  seventeen  thousand  five 
hundred  pounds.  The  following  are  a  few  of 
the  more  notable  books,  and  the  prices  they 
fetched  in  the  sales : — The  Temple  of  G/asse, 
printed  by  Berthelet,  forty-six  pounds,  four  shil- 
lings ;  Chute's  Beawtie  Dishonoured  (London, 
1529)  —  Steevens's  copy,  thirty-four  pounds; 
Lewicke's  Titus  and  Gisippus  (London,  1562), 
twenty-four  pounds,  thirteen  shillings  and  six- 
pence ;  Parker,  De  Antiquitate  Britannicce  Ec- 
clesicB  (London,  1572),  forty-five  pounds,  three 
shillings ;  Nicolas  Breton's  Floorish  upon  Fancie 
(London,  1577),  forty-two  pounds ;  Hunnis's  Hyoe 
full  of  H unnye  (London,  1578),  eighteen  guineas  ; 
The  Forrest  of  Fancy  (London,  1579),  thirty- 
eight  pounds,  six  shillings  and  sixpence ;  Mark- 
ham's  Tragedie  of  Sir  Richard  Grinvile  (London, 
1595),  forty  pounds,  nineteen  shillings;  Robert 
Fletcher's  Nine  English  Worthies  (London, 
1606),  thirty-seven  pounds,  sixteen  shillings; 
Dolarny's  Primerose  (London,  1606),  twenty-six 
pounds,  ten  shillings ;  and  Purchas's  Pilgrimes, 
five  volumes  (London,  1625),  thirty-four  pounds, 
thirteen  shillings.  The  first  edition  of  Othello 
sold   for  fifty-six  pounds,  fourteen  shillings ;   of 


248         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Love 's  Labour  Lost  for  forty  pounds,  ten  shillings  ; 
and  the  Venus  and  Adonis  of  1602  for  forty-two 
pounds.  Seven  hundred  and  eighty-one  pounds, 
one  shilling  were  obtained  for  the  Luttrell  collec- 
tion of  poetical  sheets ;  and  fifty-two  pounds,  ten 
shillings  for  a  little  Manual  of  Devotions,  one 
inch  and  seven-eighths  long,  and  one  inch  and 
three-eighths  broad,  written  on  vellum,  and  bound 
in  gold,  said  to  have  been  given  by  Anne  Boleyn 
on  the  scaffold  to  her  Maid  of  Honour,  Mistress 
Wyatt. 

Bindley's  portraits,  prints,  drawings,  and 
medals  were  sold  by  Leigh  and  Sotheby  in  18 19, 
and  realised  seven  thousand  six  hundred  and 
ninety-two  pounds. 


WILLIAM  PETTY  FITZMAURICE, 

FIRST  MARQUIS  OF  LANSDOWNE, 

1 737- 1 805 

William  Petty  Fitzmaurice,  third  Earl  of 
Shelburne  and  first  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  was 
born  in  Dublin  on  the  2nd  of  May  1737.  He 
was  first  privately  educated,  and  afterwards  at 
Christ  Church,  Oxford,  which  he  left  early  to 
take  a  commission  in  the  Guards.  He  served 
with  the  British  troops  under  Prince  Ferdinand 
in   Germany,  and  was  present  at  the  battles  of 


WILLIAM,  MARQUIS  OF  LANSDOWNE    249 

Kampen  and  Minden,  where  he  distinguished 
himself  by  his  personal  valour.  He  became  a 
Major-General  in  1765.  In  May  1760,  and  again  in 
April  1 76 1,  he  was  elected  member  for  Wycombe, 
but  he  sat  for  a  short  time  only  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  as  the  death  of  his  father  on  the  10th 
of  May  1 76 1  called  him  to  the  House  of  Lords. 
In  April  1763  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  a  post  which 
he  held  only  till  September  in  the  same  year ; 
but  in  1766,  when  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham,  formed 
his  second  administration,  he  included  Lord 
Shelburne  in  it  as  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Southern  Department,  to  which,  at  that  time,  the 
Colonial  business  was  attached.  From  this  post, 
however,  he  was  dismissed  in  October  1768  by 
the  Duke  of  Grafton,  whose  influence  in  the 
Cabinet  became  paramount  when  the  Earl  of 
Chatham's  illness  prevented  him  taking  an  active 
share  in  the  government.  Lord  Shelburne 
remained  out  of  office  until  March  1782,  when 
on  the  formation  of  the  Rockingham  administra- 
tion he  became  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign 
Affairs.  This  ministry  was  dissolved  on  the 
death  of  Lord  Rockingham  on  the  1st  of  July  in 
the  same  year,  and  the  King  entrusted  Lord 
Shelburne  with  the  construction  of  a  new  one, 
which  lasted  but  little  over  seven  months,  as  it 
was  defeated  in  February  1783  by  the  vote  of 
the  Fox  and  North  coalition.     Shortly  after  his 

21 


250        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

retirement  he  was  created  Earl  Wycombe  and 
Marquis  of  Lansdowne.  Lord  Lansdowne  did 
not  again  accept  office,  but  devoted  himself  to  the 
augmentation  of  his  fine  library,  the  formation  of 
which  had  occupied  his  attention  for  many  years. 
It  was  especially  rich  in  historical  and  political 
manuscripts,  and  comprised,  among  other  collec- 
tions, one  hundred  and  twenty-one  volumes  of 
the  papers  and  miscellaneous  correspondence  of 
Lord  Burghley,  including  his  private  note-book 
and  journal,  which  had  formerly  been  in  the 
hands  of  Strype  the  historian.  The  library  also 
contained  a  considerable  portion  of  the  impor- 
tant collection  of  State  papers  amassed  by  Sir 
Julius  Caesar,  Master  of  the  Rolls  in  the  reign  of 
James  i. ;  the  historical  collections  of  White 
Kennet,  Bishop  of  Peterborough,  which  amounted 
to  a  hundred  and  seven  volumes,  many  of  them 
being  in  the  bishop's  handwriting ;  the  heraldic 
and  genealogical  collections  of  Segar,  St.  George, 
Dugdale,  Le  Neve,  and  other  heralds ;  and  some 
valuable  legal,  topographical,  musical,  biblical 
and  classical  manuscripts.  The  collection  of 
manuscripts,  which  amounted  to  one  thousand 
two  hundred  and  forty-five  volumes,  was  acquired 
in  1807  by  the  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum 
for  the  sum  of  four  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
twenty-five  pounds.  The  printed  books,  among 
which  were  many  valuable  topographical  works 
and   some   rare  volumes   of  English  literature, 


TOPHAM  BEAUCLERK  251 

numbered  about  twenty  thousand.  They  were 
sold  by  Leigh  and  Sotheby  in  1806,  and  together 
with  the  maps,  charts,  books  of  prints,  etc., 
realised  over  eight  thousand  three  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds.  The  Marquis,  who  collected  pic- 
tures and  sculpture  as  well  as  books,  died  on  the 
7th  of  May  1805,  at  tne  a£e  °f  sixty-eight,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  John  Henry. 


TOPHAM  BEAUCLERK,  1739-1780 

The  Honourable  Topham  Beauclerk  was  the 
only  son  of  Lord  Sydney  Beauclerk,  and  a  grand- 
son of  the  first  Duke  of  St.  Albans.  He  was 
born  in  1739,  and  on  the  death  of  his  father  in 
1744  succeeded  to  the  estates  which  Lord  Sydney 
had  inherited  from  Mr.  Richard  Topham,  M.P. 
for  Windsor.  In  1757  Beauclerk  matriculated  at 
Trinity  College,  Oxford,  but  seems  to  have  left 
the  University  without  taking  a  degree.  While 
he  was  at  Oxford  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Dr.  Johnson,  who  appears  to  have  been  greatly 
attracted  to  him  on  account  of  his  wit  and  con- 
versation. This  intimacy  surprised  many  of 
Johnson's  friends,  for  although  Beauclerk  valued 
science  and  literature,  he  was  also  gay  and 
dissipated.  'What  a  coalition,'  said  Garrick, 
when  he  heard  of  it,  '  I  shall  have  my  old  friend 
to  bail  out  of  the  Round-house.'     Notwithstand- 


252         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

ing  somewhat  frequent  squabbles,  the  friendship 
lasted  for  upwards  of  twenty  years,  and  on 
Beauclerk's  death  Johnson  remarked  of  him — 
1  that  Beauclerk's  talents  were  those  which  he 
had  felt  himself  more  disposed  to  envy,  than 
those  of  any  whom  he  had  known.'1  His  con- 
versational powers  were  evidently  of  a  very  high 
order,  for  Dr.  Barnard,  Bishop  of  Limerick,  in  his 
well-known  lines  on  Dr.  Johnson,  writes  of  him  : 

4  If  I  have  thoughts,  and  can't  express  'em, 
Gibbon  shall  teach  me  how  to  dress  'em 
In  terms  select  and  terse  ; 
Jones  teach  me  modesty  and  Greek  ; 
Smith,  how  to  think  ;  Burke,  how  to  speak  ; 
And  Beauclerk  to  converse.' 

Beauclerk  married  on  the  12th  of  March  1768 
Lady  Diana  Spencer,  eldest  daughter  of  the 
second  Duke  of  Marlborough,  two  days  after  her 
divorce  from  Lord  Bolingbroke  and  St.  John. 
He  died  at  Great  Russell  Street,  Bloomsbury,  on 
the  nth  of  March  1780,  leaving  one  son  and  two 
daughters. 

Beauclerk  possessed  a  fine  library  of  upwards 
of  thirty  thousand  volumes,  which  he  kept  at  his 
residence  at  Muswell  Hill,  near  London,  stored, 
as  Horace  Walpole  informs  us,  '  in  a  building 
that  reaches  half-way  to  Highgate.'  It  did  not 
contain  many  rare  books,  but  it  was  rich  in  works 
relating  to  natural  history,  voyages  and  travels, 

1  Boswell,  Ufi  of  Johnson  (London,  1811),  vol.  iii.  p.  46a 


REV.  BENJAMIN  HEATH  253 

and  English  and  French  plays  ;  and  Dibdin  says 
that  it  was  also  valuable  to  the  general  scholar, 
and  to  the  collector  of  English  antiquities  and 
history.  It  also  possessed  a  few  curious  and 
choice  manuscripts.  Some  of  the  books  appear 
to  have  belonged  to  Mr.  Topham,  but  most  of 
them  were  collected  by  Beauclerk.  After  his 
death  they  were  sold  by  auction  by  Mr.  Paterson 
'at  the  Great  Room,  heretofore  held  by  the 
Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts  and 
Manufactures,  opposite  Beaufort  Buildings,  in 
the  Strand,  London,'  on  Monday,  April  9th,  1781, 
and  the  forty-nine  following  days.  A  priced 
copy  of  the  catalogue  is  in  the  British  Museum. 

Beauclerk,  who  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society,  was  a  collector  of  natural  curiosities,  as 
well  as  books,  and  botany  was  one  of  his  favourite 
studies.  He  had  also  an  observatory  at  Muswell 
Hill. 


REV.  BENJAMIN  HEATH,  D.D., 
1739-1817 

The  Rev.  Benjamin  Heath,  D.D.,  one  of  the 
sons  to  whom  Mr.  Benjamin  Heath  gave  a  part 
of  his  books,  was  born  on  the  29th  of  September 
1739.  He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  at  Kings 
College,  Cambridge,  of  which  College  he  became 
a  Fellow.     After  leaving  the  University  he  was 


254         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

appointed  an  assistant  master  at  Eton,  and  in  1 77 1 
succeeded  Dr.  Sumner  as  headmaster  of  Harrow, 
a  post  he  held  for  fourteen  years.1  He  died  on 
the  31st  of  May  181 7,  at  the  rectory  of  Walkerne 


Rev.  Benjamin  Heath,  D.D. 

in  the  county  of  Hertford,  a  living  given  to  him 
by  his  College,  which  he  held  with  the  rectory  of 
Farnham  in  Buckinghamshire.  He  was  buried 
at  Exeter.  Dr.  Heath,  who  was  '  a  scholar  and 
a  bibliomaniac,'  added  greatly  to  the  library  given 

1  Dibdin,  Bibliographical  Decameron,  vol.  iii.  p.  368. 


REV.  BENJAMIN  HEATH  255 

to  him  by  his  father,  for  which  he  built  a  large 
room  at  Walkerne,  where,  says  Dibdin,  '  he  saw, 
entertained,  and  caressed  his  friends,  with  Alduses 
in  the  forenoon,  and  with  a  cheerful  glass  towards 
evening,  hospitable,  temperate,  kind-hearted,  with 
a  well  furnished  mind  and  purse,  and  with  a 
larder  and  cellar  which  might  have  supplied 
materials  for  a  new  edition  of  Pynson's  Royal 
Boke  of  Cookery  and  Kervinge,  1500,  ^o.'1 
Some  years  before  his  death  Heath  offered  his 
books  to  King's  College,  Cambridge,  for  half  the 
sum  they  had  cost  him ;  but  the  College  autho- 
rities declined  the  purchase,  and  he  then  sold 
the  principal  portion  of  them  to  some  private 
individuals,  who,  Dibdin  believes,  were  Messrs. 
Cuthell  and  Martin,  for  three  thousand  pounds 
beneath  the  sum  they  ultimately  produced,2  and 
they  instructed  Mr.  Jeffery  of  11  Pall  Mall  to  sell 
the  books  by  auction.  The  sale  took  place  on 
Thursday,  the  5th  of  April  18 10,  and  twelve 
following  days  and  Wednesday,  May  2nd,  and 
eighteen  following  days.  It  consisted  of  four  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  eighty-six  lots,  which 
realised  eight  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  pounds.  The  sale  catalogue  states  that  the 
library  consisted  of  '  rare,  useful  and  valuable 
publications  in  every  department  of  literature, 
from  the  first  invention  of  printing  to  the  present 

1  Dibdin,  Bibliographical  Decameron,  vol.  iii.  p.  369. 
*  Ibid.,  iii.  370. 


256        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

time,  all  of  which  are  in  the  most  perfect  con- 
dition.' Another  catalogue,  with  the  prices  and 
purchasers'  names,  of  wnich  it  is  said  only  two 
hundred  and  fifty  copies  were  printed,  was  pub- 
lished later  in  the  year  by  Constable  of  Edin- 
burgh. Both  the  catalogues  are  to  be  found  in 
the  Library  of  King  George  in.  in  the  British 
Museum.  Dibdin  describes  this  sale  in  enthu- 
siastic terms  in  his  Bibliomania : — '  Never,'  he 
writes,  '  did  the  bibliomaniac's  eye  alight  upon 
11  sweeter  copies  " — as  the  phrase  is  ;  and  never 
did  the  bibliomaniacal  barometer  rise  higher  than 
at  this  sale!  The  most  marked  phrensy  char- 
acterized it.  A  copy  of  the  Editio  Princeps  of 
Homer  (by  no  means  a  first-rate  one)  brought 
^92 :  ■  and  all  the  Aldine  Classics  produced 
such  an  electricity  of  sensation  that  buyers  stuck 
at  nothing  to  embrace  them ! ' 


MAJOR  THOMAS   PEARSON,  i74o?-i78i 

Major  Thomas  Pearson  was  born  about  the 
year  1740  at  Cote  Green,  near  Burton-in-Kendal, 
Westmoreland.  He  was  educated  at  Burton, 
and  came  to  London  about  1756  to  fill  a  post  in 
the  Navy  Office,  which  he  resigned  in  1760.  In 
the  course  of  the  following  year  he  left  England, 
having  obtained  a  cadetship  on  the  Bengal  Estab- 

1  The  marked  catalogue  says  ^94,  10s. 
*  Bibliomania,  London,  181 1,  p.  617. 


MAJOR  THOMAS  PEARSON  257 

lishment,  in  which  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  Major. 
He  distinguished  himself  on  several  occasions, 
and  was  particularly  noticed  by  Lord  Clive,  to 
whom  he  adhered  during  the  mutiny  fomented 
by  Sir  Robert  Fletcher,  at  whose  trial  he  held 
the  office  of  Judge  Advocate.  In  1767  Pearson 
married  a  sister  of  Eyles  Irwin,  the  traveller  and 
writer.  This  lady  died  in  the  following  year,  and 
an  epitaph  inscribed  to  her  memory  may  be  found, 
together  with  other  poetical  pieces  by  Pearson, 
in  vol.  iv.  of  Pearch's  Collection  of  Poems. 
Pearson  returned  to  England  in  August  1770 
with  Governor  Verelst,  under  whom  he  had  acted 
as  Military  Secretary,  and  built  a  house  for  him- 
self at  Burton,  in  which  he  collected  a  very  ex- 
tensive library,  consisting  of  works  on  the  history, 
antiquities,  topography,  and  heraldry  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  foreign  history,  voyages  and 
travels,  natural  history,  etc.,  but  it  was  prin- 
cipally remarkable  for  the  large  number  of  books 
in  all  branches  of  old  English  literature,  and  it 
was  especially  rich  in  the  works  of  the  early  poets 
and  dramatists.  In  1776  Pearson  again  went  to 
India,  but  after  a  residence  there  of  five  years  he 
fell  a  victim  to  the  effects  of  the  climate,  and  died 
at  Calcutta  on  the  5th  of  August  1781.  Some 
years  after  his  death  his  library  was  brought 
from  Westmoreland,  and  sold  on  April  14th, 
1788,  and  twenty-two  following  days,  by  T.  and 
J.    Egerton    at    their    room    in    Scotland   Yard. 

2K 


258        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

The  prices  obtained  at  the  sale,  in  which  tin 
were  five  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  lots,  were  very  small : — Boccaccio's  The 
Falle  of  Princis  and  Princesses  and  otlur 
Nobles,  translated  by  Lydgate,  and  printed  by 
Pynson  in  1494,  fetched  but  one  pound,  twelve 
shillings ;  The  Castell  of  Laboure,  also  printed 
by  Pynson,  two  guineas ;  two  books  printed  by 
Wynkyn  de  Worde — Hawes's  Example  of 
Virtu,  and  The  Lyf  of  Saynt  C/rsula,  translated 
by  Hatfield — seven  pounds,  ten  shillings  and 
one  pound,  ten  shillings ;  Skelton's  Ryght  De- 
lectable Traytise  upon  a  goodly  Garlande,  or 
Chapelet  of  Laurell,  printed  by  Richard  Faukes 
in  1523 — an  excessively  rare,  if  not  unique  book 
— seven  pounds,  seventeen  shillings  and  six- 
pence; Peele's  Polyhymnia,  London,  1590,  three 
guineas;  Lyly's  Midas,  London,  1592,  seven 
pounds ;  and  England s  Helicon,  collected  by 
John  Bodenham,  London,  1600,  five  pounds, 
ten  shillings.  Two  volumes  of  ballads,  chiefly 
collected  by  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  and  purchased 
by  Major  Pearson  at  Mr.  West's  sale,  were 
bought  by  the  Duke  of  Roxburghe  for  thirty- 
six  pounds,  four  shillings  and  sixpence,  and  are 
now,  with  additions  by  the  Duke,  preserved  in 
the  British  Museum.  Books  bound  for  Pearson 
may  be  recognised  by  the  device  of  a  bird  sur- 
mounting a  vase,  stamped  on  the  panels  of  the 
back. 


DfKE    09    KoXBLRGHE. 


DUKE  OF  ROXBURGHE  259 

JOHN  KER,  DUKE  OF  ROXBURGHE, 

1 740- 1 804 

John  Ker,  third  Duke  of  Roxburghe,  was  born 
on  the  23rd  of  April  1740  in  Hanover  Square, 
London.  He  was  the  elder  son  of  Robert  Ker, 
second  Duke,  and  on  the  death  of  his  father  in 
1755  succeeded  to  the  title  and  estates.  While 
on  a  tour  on  the  Continent  he  became  greatly 
attached  to  Christiana,  eldest  daughter  of  the 
Duke  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  and  there  is  little 
doubt  that  she  would  have  become  his  wife  had 
not  King  George  hi.  soon  afterwards  sought 
the  hand  of  the  Princess's  younger  sister  in 
marriage,  when  it  was  considered  necessary  to 
break  off  the  match,  partly  for  political  reasons, 
and  partly  because  '  it  was  deemed  indecorous  that 
the  elder  sister  should  be  the  subject  of  the 
younger.'  This  was  a  great  disappointment  to 
both  the  Duke  and  the  Princess,  who  evinced  the 
strength  of  their  affection  by  remaining  single 
during  their  lives.  George  hi.,  probably  feeling 
that  he  had  done  the  Duke  an  injury,  always 
manifested  a  warm  friendship  for  him,  and 
bestowed  upon  him  various  appointments  in  the 
royal  household.  In  1768  he  was  made  a 
Knight  of  the  Thistle,  and  in  1801  was  invested 
with  the  Order  of  the  Garter.  He  died  on  the 
19th  of  March  1804. 


26o         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

The  Duke,  who  was  remarkable  both  for  his 
fine  presence  and  his  mental  accomplishments, 
collected  a  magnificent  library  at  his  residence 
in  St.  James's  Square,  Lonaon.  It  contained 
among  numerous  other  treasures  the  famous 
Valdarfer  Boccaccio,  upwards  of  a  dozen  volumes 
printed  by  Caxton,  and  many  from  the  presses  of 
Pynson,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  Julian  Notary,  and 
other  early  English  printers.  The  first,  second, 
and  third  Shakespeare  folios  were  in  the  collec- 
tion, as  well  as  a  large  number  of  early  quarto 
plays.  The  library  was  especially  rich  in  choice 
editions  of  the  French  romances,  and  in  the 
works  of  the  English  dramatists  who  flourished 
during  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  James  i. 
Some  rare  books  printed  in  Scotland  were  also 
to  be  found  in  it.  The  collection  of  broadside 
ballads  in  three  thick  folio  volumes,  now  in  the 
British  Museum,  is  perhaps  the  most  extensive 
and  interesting  ever  brought  together.  It  was 
begun  by  Robert  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford,  from 
whose  library  it  passed  successively  to  those  of 
Mr.  James  West  and  Major  Thomas  Pearson, 
and  at  the  sale  of  the  books  of  the  last-named 
collector  it  was  purchased  for  thirty-six  pounds, 
four  shillings  and  sixpence  by  the  Duke,  who 
made  many  additions  to  it  while  in  his  possession. 
The  collection  has  been  admirably  edited  by  Mr. 
William  Chappell  and  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Ebsworth 
for  the  Ballad  Society.     Other  books  deserving 


DUKE  OF  ROXBURGHE  261 

special  notice  were  the  first  edition  of  Pliny, 
printed  by  J.  de  Spira  at  Venice  in  1469 ;  Cicero's 
Epistolce  ad  Atticum,  etc.,  printed  at  Rome  in 
1470;  the  1580  edition  of  the  Paradyse  of 
Daintie  Devises,  and  the  first  edition  of  Shake- 
speare's Sonnets. 

Among  the  manuscripts  the  most  valuable 
were  Chaucer's  Canterbury  Tales,  bound  with 
Lydgate's  Life  of  St.  Margarete,  on  vellum,  with 
illuminations,  and  the  Mystere  de  la  Vengeance 
de  Nostre  Seigneur,  also  on  vellum. 

The  library  was  sold  in  181 2  by  Mr.  Evans 
of  Pall  Mall  in  the  dining-room  of  the  Duke's 
house  in  St.  James's  Square,  and  the  total  amount 
realised  was  twenty-three  thousand  three  hundred 
and  ninety-seven  pounds,  ten  shillings  and  six- 
pence. The  sale,  which  consisted  of  nine 
thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty-three  lots, 
lasted  forty-two  days,  commencing  on  the  18th 
of  May,  and  ending  on  the  4th  of  July.  It 
was  followed  by  a  supplementary  one  of  seven 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  lots,  which  began  on  the 
13th  of  July,  and  lasted  till  the  16th  of  the  same 
month.  The  catalogue  was  compiled  by  Mr. 
George  Nicol,  bookseller  to  the  King.  The  sale 
excited  very  great  interest ;  and  Dibdin,  who  gives 
an  account  of  it  in  his  Bibliographical  Decameron, 
tells  us  ■  the  room  was  so  crowded  that  nothing 
but  standing  upon  a  contiguous  bench  saved  the 
writer  of  The  Bibliographical  Deca?neron  from 


262         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

suffocation.'  The  prices  obtained  for  the  books 
were  very  high.  That  '  most  notorious  volume 
in  existence,'  the  Valdarfer  Boccaccio,  which  cost 
the  Duke  of  Roxburghe  but  one  hundred  guineas, 
was  acquired  by  the  Marquis  of  Blandford,  after 
a  severe  struggle  with  Lord  Spencer,  for  two 
thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty  pounds,  and 
Dibdin  says  that  the  Marquis  declared  that  it  was 
his  intention  to  have  gone  as  far  as  five  thousand 
guineas  for  it.  A  copy  of  the  Recuyell  of  the 
Histories  of  Troye,  which  once  belonged  to  Eliza- 
beth Grey,  wife  of  Edward  iv.,  was  purchased  by 
the  Duke  of  Devonshire  for  one  thousand  and 
sixty  pounds,  ten  shillings ;  while  three  other 
books  from  the  press  of  Caxton,  Tlie  Mirrour  of 
the  JVorld,  the  Fayts  of  Arms,  and  Gower's 
Confessio  Amantis,  sold  respectively  for  three 
hundred  and  fifty-one  pounds,  ten  shillings,  three 
hundred  and  thirty-six  pounds,  and  three  hundred 
and  thirty-six  pounds.  The  collection  of  ballads 
fell  to  Mr.  J.  Harding  for  four  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  pounds,  fifteen  shillings.  At  the 
sale  of  Mr.  B.  H.  Bright's  books  in  1845  it 
was  secured  for  the  British  Museum  for  the 
sum  of  five  hundred  and  thirty-five  pounds. 
The  first  folio  of  Shakespeare's  Plays  fetched 
one  hundred  pounds,  and  his  Sonnets  twenty-one 
pounds.  The  two  manuscripts  mentioned  realised 
three  hundred  and  fifty-seven  pounds  and  four 
hundred  and  ninety-three  pounds,  ten  shillings. 


MICHAEL  WODHULL  263 

A  dinner  was  given,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Dr.  Dibdin,  to  commemorate  the  sale  of  the 
Boccaccio ;  and  Earl  Spencer,  Dr.  Dibdin,  and 
other  bibliophiles  met  on  the  day  of  the  sale 
at  St.  Alban's  Tavern,  St.  Alban's  Street — 
now  Waterloo  Place — and  then  and  there  formed 
the  Roxburghe  Club  ;  Earl  Spencer  being  the 
first  President. 


MICHAEL  WODHULL,  1740-1816 

Michael  Wodhull,  the  translator  of  the 
tragedies  of  Euripides,  was  born  at  Thenford, 
Northamptonshire,  on  the  15th  of  August  1740. 
His  father  was  John  Wodhull,  a  descendant  of 
Walter  Flandrensis,  who  held  the  estates  of 
Pateshull  and  Thenford  in  the  time  of  William  1. 
He  received  his  early  education  under  the  Rev. 
William  Cleaver  of  Twyford,  Bucks.  He  was 
afterwards  sent  to  Winchester,  and  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  proceeded  to  the  University  of  Oxford, 
matriculating  from  Brazenose  College.  While 
still  young  Wodhull  inherited  a  considerable 
fortune  from  his  father,  and  he  built  a  fine 
mansion  on  the  family  estate  at  Thenford,  in 
which  he  kept  his  library.  He  was  High  Sheriff 
of  Northamptonshire  in  1783.  Wodhull  married 
a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  J.  Ingram  of  Wolford, 
Warwickshire,  by  whom  he  had  three  children, 


264         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 


who  all  predeceased  him.  He  died  on  the  ioth 
of  November  1816.  In  addition  to  his  transla- 
tions of  the  tragedies  of  Euripides,  Wodhull  was 
the  author  of  several  poems.  From  1764  to  his 
death  Wodhull  was  an  indefatigable  collector  of 
rare  and  curious  books,  and  Dibdin  says  of  him 

that  'a  better  informed  or 
more  finished  bibliographer 
existed  not  either  in  France 
or  England.' 

His  splendid  library,  which 
was  a  great  consolation  and 
pleasure  to  him  in  the  soli- 
tude of  the  last  years  of  his 
life,  was  particularly  rich  in 
early  editions  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  classics,  and  in 
works  printed  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  All  the  books — 
many  of  which  were  bound 
by  Roger  Payne — were  in 
fine  condition,  and  some  of 
them  had  once  formed  part 
of  the  libraries  of  Francis  I., 
and  Diana  of  Poitiers, 
Longepierre,  and  other  famous  French  collec- 
tors, and  were  bound  by  such  fine  craftsmen  as 
Boyet,  Derome,  Monnier,  etc.  The  covers  of 
the  volumes  bound  for  Wodhull  are  mostly  im- 
pressed with  a  stamp  of  his  arms,  impaled  with 


Book-stamp  of 
Michael  Wodhull. 

Grolier,     Henry    11. 


MICHAEL  WODHULL  265 

those  of  his  wife.  A  portion  of  Wodhull's  books, 
principally  duplicates,  was  sold  by  Leigh,  Sotheby 
and  Son,  of  York  Street,  Covent  Garden,  at  two 
sales  in  1801  and  1803.  The  first  sale  consisted 
of  a  thousand  and  fifty-nine  lots,  which  realised 
three  hundred  and  sixty-one  pounds,  ten  shillings  ; 
and  the  second  of  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  lots,  for  which  the  sum  of  eight 
hundred  and  fifteen  pounds  was  obtained.  The 
remainder  of  the  library  appears  to  have  been 
kept  at  Thenford  until  1886,  when  Mr.  J.  E. 
Severne,  M.P.,  to  whom  it  had  descended, 
determined  to  part  with  it,  and  it  was  sold  by 
Wilkinson,  Sotheby  and  Hodge  on  January  nth, 
1886,  and  nine  following  days.  There  were  two 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  four  lots  in  the  sale, 
which  produced  the  large  sum  of  eleven  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  seventy-two  pounds,  fourteen 
shillings  and  sixpence. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  rarest  and 
most  interesting  books  in  this  splendid  collection, 
with  the  prices  they  fetched  : — the  Catholicon  of 
Joannes  Balbus,  printed  at  Mentz  in  1460,  three 
hundred  and  ten  pounds ;  Cicero  de  Officiis, 
printed  at  Mentz  in  1466,  seventy-one  pounds ; 
Tullius  de  Senectute  et  Amicitia,  printed  by 
Caxton  in  1481,  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds; 
(a  perfect  copy  of  Caxton's  Mirrour  of  the  World 
was  sold  in  the  1803  sale  for  thirty-eight  pounds, 
seventeen  shillings) ;  the  first  edition  of  Homer, 

2L 


266         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

printed  at  Florence  in  1488,  two  hundred  pounds ; 
Pol i phi  I i  Hypnerotomachia ,  printed  by  Aldus  in 
1499,  fifty-three  pounds;  the  Aldine  Virgil  of 
1501,  one  hundred  and  forty-five  pounds;  Rowan 
de  Guy  de  Warwick,  Paris,  1525,  one  hundred 
and  thirty  pounds ;  the  New  Actes  and  Consti- 
tucionis  of  Parliament  maid  by  James  V.,  Kyng 
of  Scottis,  printed  on  vellum  at  Edinburgh  in 
1 54 1,  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  pounds;  the 
Contes  of  La  Fontaine,  Amsterdam  (Paris),  1762, 
in  two  small  8vo  volumes,  bound  in  red  morocco, 
ninety-three  pounds;  Moliere's  Works,  with  plates 
by  Moreau,  six  volumes,  1773,  seventy-seven 
pounds. 

Among  the  books  with  historical  or  fine 
bindings  were  Alcyonius,  Medices  Legatus  de 
Exsilio,  in  aedib.  Aldi,  Venetiis,  1522,  bound  for 
Francis  1.,  with  the  arms  of  France,  the  crowned 
initial  of  the  king,  and  the  salamander  stamped  on 
the  covers,  fifty-eight  pounds  ;  Aristotle,  De  Arte 
Poetica,  Florentiae,  1548,  bound  for  Henry  11.  of 
France  and  Diana  of  Poitiers,  with  the  devices 
of  the  king  and  his  mistress  on  the  covers, 
two  hundred  and  five  pounds ;  Crinitus,  De 
Poetis  Latinis,  Florentiae,  1505,  bound  for 
Grolier,  seventy-four  pounds;  Irenici  Germania, 
Hagenoae,  15 18,  also  bound  for  Grolier,  sixty- 
two  pounds ;  and  two  works  by  Giordano 
Bruno — Spaccio  de  la  Bestia  Trionfante,  Parigi, 
1 584,    and    La    Cena   de  la    Ceneri,    1 584 ;    the 


FRANCIS  HARGRAVE  267 

former  bound  in  citron  morocco,  with  a  red 
double*  by  Boyet,  and  the  latter  in  a  beautiful 
mosaic  binding  by  Monnier,  realised  respectively 
the  large  sums  of  three  hundred  and  sixty 
pounds  and  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  pounds. 
The  principal  manuscripts  were  a  copy  of 
Dante,  with  a  commentary  by  Joannes  de  Sarra- 
valle,  written  in  the  years  1416-17,  which  sold 
for  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  pounds ;  and  a 
very  beautiful  Roman  Breviary  of  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  on  vellum,  illuminated 
for  Francois  de  Castelnau,  Archbishop  of  Nar- 
bonne,  for  which  five  hundred  and  fifteen  pounds 
was  obtained. 


FRANCIS    HARGRAVE,  i74i?-i82i 

Francis  Hargrave,  the  eminent  law  writer, 
who  was  born  about  1741,  was  the  son  of 
Christopher  Hargrave  of  Chancery  Lane.  He 
entered  as  a  student  at  Lincoln's  Inn  in  1760, 
and  in  1772  he  greatly  distinguished  himself  in 
the  Habeas  Corpus  case  of  James  Sommersett,  a 
negro.  Soon  afterwards  he  was  appointed  one 
of  the  king's  counsel,  and  in  1797  he  was  made 
Recorder  of  Liverpool.  He  was  also  for  many 
years  Treasurer  of  Lincoln's  Inn.  In  1813,  in 
consequence  of  the  impaired  state  of  Hargrave's 
health,  his  wife  petitioned  Parliament  to  purchase 


268         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTOR^ 

the  fine  law  library  which  he  had  amassed,  con- 
sisting of  a  considerable  number  of  printed  books 
and  about  five  hundred  manuscripts ;  and  on  the 
recommendation  of  a  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  the  collection  was  acquired  by  the 
Government  for  the  sum  of  eight  thousand 
pounds,  and  deposited  in  the  British  Museum. 
Edwards,  in  his  Lives  of  the  Founders  of  the 
British  Museum,  says  that  '  the  peculiar  import- 
ance of  the  Hargrave  Collection  consisted  in  its 
manuscripts  and  its  annotated  printed  books. 
The  former  were  about  five  hundred  in  number, 
and  were  works  of  great  juridical  weight  and 
authority,  not  merely  the  curiosities  of  black- 
letter  law.  Their  collector  was  the  most  eminent 
parliamentary  lawyer  of  his  day,  but  his  devotion 
to  the  science  of  law  had,  to  some  degree,  im- 
peded his  enjoyment  of  its  sweets.  During 
some  of  the  best  years  of  his  life  he  had  been 
more  intent  on  increasing  his  legal  lore  than  on 
swelling  his  legal  profits.  And  thus  the  same 
legislative  act  which  enriched  the  Museum 
Library,  in  both  of  its  departments,  helped  to 
smooth  the  declining  years  of  a  man  who  had 
won  uncommon  distinction  in  his  special  pursuit.' 
A  catalogue  of  the  manuscripts  was  compiled  by 
Sir  Henry  Ellis,  and  published  in  1818.  Har- 
grave, among  other  important  legal  works,  pub- 
lished a  new  edition  of  State  Trials  from  tJic 
eleventh  year  of  Richard  II.  to  the  sixteenth  of 


ISAAC  REED  269 

George  III.,  in  eleven  volumes  folio,  in  1776-81  ; 
Juridical  Arguments  and  Collections,  in  two  vol- 
umes, in  1797-99 ;  and Jurisconsult  Exercitations, 
in  three  volumes,  in  181 1-13.  He  died  on  the  16th 
of  August  1 82 1,  and  was  buried  in  Lincoln's 
Inn  Chapel.  Lord  Lyndhurst,  in  speaking  of 
Hargrave's  great  legal  knowledge,  declared  that 
1  no  man  ever  lived  who  was  more  conversant 
with  the  law  of  his  country.' 


ISAAC  REED,  1742-1807 

Isaac  Reed,  the  editor  of  Shakespeare,  was 
born  in  London  on  the  1st  of  January  1742. 
He  was  a  conveyancer,  and  had  chambers,  first 
in  Gray's  Inn  and  afterwards  in  Staple  Inn, 
where  he  died  on  the  5th  of  January  1807.  He 
was  buried  at  Amwell  in  Hertfordshire.  Reed, 
who  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries, 
collected  books  for  upwards  of  forty  years,  and 
Dibdin  says  that  '  he  would  appear  to  have 
adopted  the  cobbler's  well-known  example  of 
applying  one  room  to  almost  every  domestic 
purpose :  for  Reed  made  his  library  his  parlour, 
kitchen,  and  hall.'  His  extensive  collection  of 
books,  which  was  rich  in  works  relating  to  the 
English  drama  and  poetry,  was  sold  by  King 
and  Lochee,  38  King  Street,  Covent  Garden, 
on   Monday,   November  2nd,    1807,  and   thirty- 


270         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

eight  following  days.  The  sale  consisted  of  eight 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty-seven  lots,  in- 
cluding prints  and  a  few  miscellaneous  articles, 
and  realised  four  thousand  three  hundred  and 
eighty-six  pounds,  nineteen  shillings  and  six- 
pence. A  copy  of  the  catalogue,  with  the  prices 
added  in  manuscript,  is  preserved  in  the  Library 
of  King  George  in.  in  the  British  Museum. 


SIR  JOSEPH  BANKS,  Bart.,   1744-1820 

The  Right  Hon.  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  Bart., 
to  whom  the  British  Museum,  in  addition  to 
other  bequests,  is  indebted  for  one  of  the  finest 
libraries  of  books  on  natural  history  ever  collected, 
was  born  in  Argyle  Street,  London,  on  the  13th 
of  February  1744.  He  was  the  only  son  of 
William  Banks,  of  Revesby  Abbey,  Lincolnshire, 
by  his  wife  Sarah,  daughter  of  William  Bate. 
Banks  was  first  educated  at  Harrow  and  Eton, 
and  proceeded  afterwards  to  Christ  Church, 
Oxford,  which  college  he  entered  as  a  gentleman- 
commoner  in  1760.  In  1 76 1  his  father  died, 
leaving  him  a  large  estate.  He  left  the  Uni- 
versity in  1763,  after  having  taken  an  honorary 
degree,  and  in  1766  he  set  out  on  a  scientific 
voyage  to  Newfoundland  with  his  friend  Lieu- 
tenant Phipps,  afterwards  Lord  Mulgrave,  and 
brought   back   a   large  collection   of  plants  and 


SIR  JOSEPH  BANKS  271 

insects.  In  1768  he  accompanied  Captain  Cook's 
expedition  round  the  world  in  The  Endeavour, 
a  vessel  which  he  equipped  at  his  own  expense, 
taking  with  him  his  friend  and  librarian  Dr. 
Solander,  two  draughtsmen,  and  several  servants. 
This  voyage,  which  was  attended  by  many 
dangers  and  privations,  occupied  nearly  three 
years,  and  the  specimens  which  the  enterprising 
collectors  brought  home  with  them  excited  very 
great  and  general  interest.  Banks  was  anxious 
to  join  Captain  Cook's  second  expedition,  but 
owing  to  some  difficulties  respecting  the  fittings 
of  the  ship  in  which  he  was  to  have  sailed  he  re- 
linquished his  purpose,  and  in  1772  paid  a  visit 
in  company  with  Dr.  Solander  to  Iceland,  where 
he  obtained  a  large  number  of  botanical  specimens, 
and  also  purchased  a  collection  of  Icelandic 
manuscripts  and  printed  books,  including  the 
library  of  Halfdan  Einarsson,  the  literary  his- 
torian of  the  island,  which  he  gave  to  the  British 
Museum  on  his  return  to  England.  Ten  years 
later  he  presented  a  second  collection  to  that  in- 
stitution. In  1778  Banks  succeeded  Sir  John 
Pringle  as  President  of  the  Royal  Society,  a  post 
he  held  for  upwards  of  forty-one  years.  He  had 
been  a  Fellow  since  the  year  1766.  In  1779  he 
married  Dorothea,  daughter  of  William  Weston- 
Hugesson  of  Provender,  in  the  parish  of  Norton, 
Kent,  and  in  1781  he  was  created  a  baronet.  In 
1795  he  received  the  Order  of  the  Bath,  and  in 


272         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

1797  he  was  sworn  of  the  Privy  Council.  The 
National  Institute  of  France  elected  him  a 
member  in  1802.  He  died  at  his  house  at  Spring 
Grove,  Isleworth,  on  the  19th  of  June  1820, 
leaving  a  widow  but  no  issue. 

Sir  Joseph  Banks,  even  when  a  schoolboy, 
took  great  interest  in  all  branches  of  natural 
history,  and  during  his  residence  at  Oxford  he 
procured  the  appointment  of  a  lecturer  on  natural 
science  in  the  University.  He  was  always  ex- 
ceedingly generous  in  his  relations  with  men  of 
science,  and  the  splendid  collections  in  his  house 
in  Soho  Square  were  always  open  to  them  for 
study  and  investigation. 

Sir  Joseph  Banks  bequeathed  his  library, 
with  the  exception  of  some  manuscripts  which 
he  left  to  the  Royal  Society  and  the  Mint,  his 
herbarium,  drawings,  engravings,  and  other  col- 
lections to  the  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum, 
subject  to  a  life  interest  and  a  life  use  in  them  by 
his  friend  and  librarian,  Mr.  Robert  Brown,  the 
eminent  botanist.  This  bequest  was  accompanied 
by  a  proviso  that  Mr.  Brown  should  be  at  liberty 
to  transfer  the  collections  to  the  British  Museum 
during  his  lifetime,  if  the  Trustees  were  desirous 
to  receive  them,  and  he  were  willing  to  comply 
with  their  wishes.  An  arrangement  to  this  effect 
was  eventually  carried  out,  and  in  the  year  1827 
the  transfer  was  effected  ;  Mr.  Brown  at  the  same 
time  receiving  the  appointment  of  Keeper  of  the 


SIR  JOSEPH  BANKS  273 

Department  of  Botany  in  the  Museum,  a  post  he 
held  until  his  death  in  1858. 

The  number  of  printed  books  acquired  by  the 
Museum  amounted  to  about  sixteen  thousand, 
consisting  principally  of  works  on  natural  history 
and  the  journals  and  transactions  of  learned 
societies.  The  manuscripts  numbered  but  forty- 
nine,  but  among  them  were  the  log-books  of  The 
Endeavour,  The  Resolution,  and  The  Racehorse, 
and  the  journals  of  Tasman,  Carver,  Verwey  and 
other  navigators. 

A  catalogue  of  the  library  was  compiled  by 
Mr.  Jonas  Dryander,  who  succeeded  Dr.  Sol- 
ander  as  Sir  Joseph's  librarian,  in  five  volumes, 
and  published  in  London  in  the  years  1798- 1800. 

Sir  Joseph  Banks  was  the  author  of  two 
treatises  : — one,  On  the  Cause  of  Blight  in  Corn, 
published  in  1805 ;  and  the  other  on  Some  Cir- 
cumstances relative  to  Merino  Sheep,  published  in 
1809;  together  with  some  articles  contributed  to 
the  journals  of  learned  societies.  He  evidently  in- 
tended at  one  time  to  publish  a  work  embodying 
the  results  of  his  researches,  as  the  plates  were 
engraved,  and  the  text  partly  prepared  for  press, 
but  the  death  of  his  librarian  Dr.  Solander  in 
1782  appears  to  have  caused  him  to  relinquish 
his  purpose.  Kaempfer's  /cones  Plant  arum  was 
published  by  him  in  1791,  and  he  also  superin- 
tended the  issue  of  Roxburgh's  Coromandel 
Plants  in    1795-18 19.     A  statue  of  Sir  Joseph 

2M 


274        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

by  Sir  Francis  Chantrey  is  placed  in  the  Natural 
History  Museum  in  South  Kensington,  and  a 
portrait  of  him  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence  is 
hung  in  the  board-room  of  the  British  Museum. 
Another  portrait  of  him  by  Thomas  Phillips, 
R.A.,  is  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

Sarah  Sophia  Banks,  the  only  sister  of  Sir 
Joseph  Banks,  possessed  similar  tastes  to  her 
brother,  and  amassed  a  considerable  number  of 
books,  coins,  objects  of  natural  history,  etc. 
She  died  at  her  brother's  house  in  Soho  Square 
on  the  27th  of  September  18 18;  and  after  her 
death  a  portion  of  her  collections,  consisting  of 
sixty-six  volumes  of  manuscripts,  chiefly  relating 
to  heraldic  matters,  ceremonials,  archery,  etc., 
together  with  several  printed  books  principally 
treating  of  chivalry,  knighthood,  etc.,  some  of 
them  enriched  with  her  ms.  notes,  were  presented 
to  the  library  of  the  British  Museum  by  Lady 
Banks,  the  wife  of  Sir  Joseph.  Several  of  the 
volumes  were  in  very  fine  bindings. 


REV.  JOHN  BRAND,  1744-1806 

The  Rev.  John  Brand,  the  author  of  Observa- 
tions on  Popular  Antiquities,  was  born  on  the 
19th  of  August  1744  at  Washington,  in  the 
county  of  Durham,  where  his  father  Alexander 
Brand  was  parish  clerk.     When  fourteen  years 


REV.  JOHN  BRAND  275 

of  age  he  was  apprenticed  to  his  uncle  Anthony 
Wheatley,  a  shoemaker  of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 
and  during  his  residence  in  that  town  he  attended 
the  grammar  school  there.  He  displayed  so 
much  ability  and  industry  that  the  master  of 
the  school,  the  Rev.  Hugh  Moises,  with  the 
assistance  of  some  friends,  sent  him  to  Lincoln 
College,  Oxford,  where  he  graduated  B.A.  in 
1775.  He  had  been  ordained  some  time  pre- 
viously, and,  after  filling  several  curacies,  in  1784 
he  was  presented  by  the  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land to  the  rectory  of  the  united  parishes  of  St. 
Mary-at-Hill  and  St.  Mary  Hubbard  in  the  city 
of  London.  In  the  same  year  he  was  elected 
resident  secretary  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries, 
an  office  he  held  until  his  death  on  the  nth  of 
September  1806.  He  was  buried  in  the  chancel 
of  his  church.  Brand  had  a  very  extensive  know- 
ledge of  antiquities,  and  he  accumulated  a  large 
library,  which  was  very  rich  in  old  English 
literature. 

Among  the  rarer  books  were  the  Knight  of  the 
Tower,  printed  by  Caxton  in  1484;  the  Dyalogue 
of  Dives  and  Pauper,  and  Arnold's  Chronicle  of 
the  Customs  of  London,  printed  by  Pynson  in 
1493  and  1 52 1  ;  A  Plaister  for  a  Galled  Horse, 
London,  1548;  John  Byshop's  Beautiful  Blos- 
somes,  London,  1577;  Thomas  Bentley's  Monu- 
ment of  Mat  rones,  London,  1582;  A  Booke  of 
Fishing  with  hooke  and  line,  London,  1600 ;  Mrs. 


276        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Fage's  Poems,  London,  1637;  anc*  A  J  unifier 
Lecture,  London,  1639.  The  collection  also  con- 
tained some  curious  works  on  witches. 

After  Brand's  death,  the  library  was  sold  in 
two  parts  by  Stewart  of  194  Piccadilly.  The  first 
sale  took  place  on  May  6th,  1807,  and  thirty-six 
following  days,  'Sundays,  the  King's  Birthdav, 
and  May  21-26  excepted.'  It  consisted  of  eignt 
thousand  six  hundred  and  eleven  lots  of  printed 
books,  and  two  hundred  and  forty-three  of 
manuscripts,  which  realised  four  thousand  three 
hundred  pounds.  The  second  part,  containing 
duplicates  and  pamphlets,  was  sold  on  February 
the  8th,  1808,  and  fourteen  following  days, 
'Sundays  and  the  Fastday  excepted.'  There 
were  four  thousand  and  sixty-four  lots  in  this 
portion,  and  the  sum  obtained  for  them  was 
eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-one  pounds.  The 
Knight  of  the  Tower  was  purchased  by  Mr. 
Payne  the  bookseller  for  Earl  Spencer  for  one 
hundred  and  eleven  pounds,  six  shillings ; 
Arnold's  Chronicle  fetched  eighteen  guineas ;  the 
Dyalogue  of  Dives  and  Pauper,  four  pounds, 
three  shillings  ;  Bentley's  Monument  ofMatrones, 
eight  pounds,  eighteen  shillings  and  sixpence ; 
and  Mrs.  Fage's  Poems,  five  pounds,  fifteen 
shillings  and  sixpence.  A  copy  of  Brand's  own 
work  on  Popular  Antiquities,  with  additions  for 
a  new  edition,  sold,  with  the  copyright,  for  six 
hundred  and  thirty  pounds. 


JOHN  DENT  277 

In  addition  to  his  Observations  on  Popular 
Antiquities,  which  appeared  in  1777,  Brand  pub- 
lished a  work  on  the  History  and  Antiquities 
of  the  town  and  county  of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne 
in  1789;  and  in  1775  a  poem  On  Illicit  Love, 
written  among  the  ruins  of  Godstow  Nunnery, 
near  Oxford — the  place  where  the  celebrated 
Rosamond,  the  mistress  of  Henry  11.,  was  buried. 
He  also  contributed  many  papers  to  the  Archczo- 
logia  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries. 

Nichols,  in  his  Literary  Anecdotes}  says  of 
Brand  that  ■  his  manners,  somewhat  repulsive  to 
a  stranger,  became  easy  on  closer  acquaintance, 
and  he  loved  to  communicate  to  men  of  literary 
and  antiquarian  taste  the  result  of  his  researches 
on  any  subject  in  which  they  might  require 
information.' 


JOHN  DENT,  i75o?-i826 

Mr.  John  Dent  was  born  about  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  His  father  is  said  to 
have  been  the  master  of  a  school  in  a  small  town 
in  Cumberland.  At  an  early  age  he  entered  the 
banking-house  of  Messrs.  Child  and  Co.  of 
London  as  a  clerk,  and  in  1795  rose  to  be  a 
partner  in  the  firm.  In  1790  he  was  elected 
Member    of    Parliament    for    the    borough    of 

1  Vol.  ix.  p.  653. 


278        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Leicester,  and  held  the  seat  during  five  successive 
Parliaments  until  the  dissolution  in  1812.  Six 
years  later  he  was  chosen  Member  for  Poole, 
which  he  represented  till  1826.  He  died  at  his 
residence  in  Hertford  Street,  May  fair,  on  the 
14th  of  December  1826. 

Mr.  Dent,  who  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society  and  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  ac- 
cumulated a  very  fine  library,  which  was  very 
rich  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  Classics  and  early 
English  literature.  It  also  contained  some  very 
beautiful  manuscripts.  After  his  death  it  was 
sold  in  two  parts  by  Mr.  Evans  of  Pall  Mall. 
The  first  sale,  which  took  place  on  March  the 
29th,  1827,  and  eight  following  days,  consisted 
of  fifteen  hundred  and  two  lots,  and  realised  six 
thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight  pounds, 
twelve  shillings.  The  second  portion  of  the  books 
was  sold  on  the  25th  of  the  succeeding  month 
and  eight  following  days.  There  were  one  thou- 
sand four  hundred  and  seventy-four  lots  in  this 
sale,  which  brought  eight  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  sixty-two  pounds,  seven  shillings.  The 
following  are  a  few  of  the  many  very  rare  books 
which  this  noble  collection  contained,  and  the 
prices  which  were  obtained  for  them  : — 

Fust  and  Schoeffer's  Latin  Bible  of  1462,  one 
hundred  and  seventy-three  pounds,  five  shillings; 
a  vellum  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  Livy,  printed 
by  Sweynheym  and  Pannartz  at  Rome  in  1469, 


JOHN  DENT  279 

two  hundred  and  sixty-two  pounds,  ten  shillings  ; 
the  first  edition  of  the  Anthologia  Grceca  on 
vellum,  printed  at  Florence  in  1494,  seventy 
pounds ;  a  perfect  copy  of  Higden's  Polychronicon, 
printed  by  Caxton  in  1482,  one  hundred  and 
three  pounds,  nineteen  shillings  ;  three  other  im- 
perfect Caxtons,  fifty-eight  pounds,  seventeen 
shillings  and  sixpence ;  Barclay's  Shyp  of  Folys, 
printed  by  Pynson  in  1509,  thirty  pounds,  nine 
shillings  ;  Bradshawe's  Lyfe  ofSaynt  Radegunde, 
printed  by  Pynson,  without  date,  thirty-two 
pounds ;  The  Cronycle  of  Englonde,  printed  by 
Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  1502,  thirty-eight  pounds, 
seventeen  shillings ;  a  copy  on  vellum  of  the 
Orcharde  ofSyon,  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde 
in  1519,  sixty-five  pounds,  two  shillings;  Vitru- 
vius  de  Architectural  printed  on  vellum  by  P.  de 
Giunta  in  1513,  one  hundred  and  seven  pounds, 
two  shillings;  the  Coverdale  Bible,  1535,  eighty- 
nine  pounds,  five  shillings ;  and  Archbishop 
Parker's  De  Antiquitate  Britanniccz  Ecclesice, 
1573,  forty  pounds.  Mr.  Dent  possessed  the 
first  three  Shakespeare  folios,  and  a  large  number 
of  the  separate  quarto  plays.  The  folios  realised 
respectively  one  hundred  and  ten  pounds,  five 
shillings,  fifteen  pounds,  and  sixty-five  pounds, 
two  shillings.  The  copy  of  the  third  folio  had 
many  contemporary  manuscript  corrections.  Of 
the  quarto  plays,  twenty-six  pounds  was  obtained 
for  the  first  edition  of  Loves  Labors  Lost,  twenty- 


28o        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

two  pounds  for  the  first  edition  of  Othello,  sixteen 
pounds  for  the  first  edition  of  The  Merchant  of 
Venice,  and  four  pounds,  ten  shillings  for  the 
first  edition  of  Midsummer  Night's  Dream. 

Several  of  the  manuscripts  were  of  exceptional 
beauty  and  interest.  A  Roman  Breviary,  with 
illuminations  in  the  finest  Flemish  style,  pre- 
sented to  Queen  Isabel  of  Castile  by  Francisco 
de  Rojas,  sold  for  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight  pounds ;  a  copy  of  the  Gospels  in  Greek, 
said  to  have  been  written  about  the  end  of  the 
eleventh  century,  for  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven  pounds,  fifteen  shillings ;  an  Office  de  la 
Vierge,  written  by  Nicolas  Jarry,  the  celebrated 
calligraphist,  in  1656  for  Anne  of  Austria,  and 
which  afterwards  passed  into  the  possession  of 
Madame  de  Maintenon  and  the  Prince  de  Conti, 
for  one  hundred  and  ten  pounds,  five  shillings ; 
and  a  copy  of  the  Westminster  Liber  Regalis, 
written  in  the  fifteenth  century,  for  fifty-five 
pounds,  thirteen  shillings.  All  these  manuscripts 
were  on  vellum.  The  copies  of  the  Roman 
Breviary  and  the  Greek  Gospels  are  described 
by  Dibdin  in  his  Bibliographical  Decameron 
(vol.  i.  pp.  clxiii  and  xcii). 


RIGHT  HON.  THOMAS  GRENVILLE     281 

RIGHT  HON.  THOMAS  GRENVILLE, 
1 755- 1 846 

The  Right  Hon.  Thomas  Grenville,  who  was 
born  on  the  31st  of  December  1755,  was  the 
second  son  of  the  Right  Hon.  George  Grenville, 
the  statesman,  who  succeeded  Lord  Bute  as 
Premier  in  1763,  and  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir 
William  Wyndham.  In  1771  he  entered  Christ 
Church,  Oxford,  as  a  gentleman-commoner,  and 
in  1778  he  was  appointed  ensign  in  the  Cold- 
stream Guards,  which  he  left  the  following  year  to 
become  a  lieutenant  in  the  80th  foot.  In  1780 
he  was  elected  Member  for  Buckinghamshire, 
and  became  a  follower  of  Lord  Rockingham  and 
Mr.  Fox,  the  latter  of  whom  thought  so  highly 
of  his  talents  that  he  intended,  if  his  India  Bill 
had  passed,  to  have  made  him  Governor-General. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  war  with  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Grenville  was  sent  to  Paris  to 
negotiate  terms  of  peace,  but  only  remained  there 
a  short  time,  being  recalled  by  the  death  of  the 
Marquis  of  Rockingham  and  a  change  of  ministry. 
On  his  return  to  this  country  he  continued  for 
some  time  to  support  Mr.  Fox,  but  the  course 
pursued  by  that  statesman  with  regard  to  the 
French  Revolution  caused  him  to  transfer  his 
allegiance  to  Mr.  Pitt,  and  in  1794  Mr.  Grenville 
accepted  the  post  of  Minister  Extraordinary  to 

2  N 


282         ENGLISH  BOOK.  COLLECTORS 

the  Court  of  Vienna.  In  1798  he  became  a  privy 
councillor,  and  in  1799  he  was  sent  as  Ambassador 
to  Berlin  to  endeavour  to  prevent  the  King  of 
Prussia  deserting  the  coalition  against  France; 
but  the  first  vessel  in  which  he  sailed  was  stopped 
by  ice,  and  the  second  was  wrecked,  and  the 
delay  which  ensued  rendered  the  mission  an 
abortive  one.  In  1800  he  was  made  Chief 
Justice  in  Eyre  to  the  South  of  the  Trent,  a 
sinecure  office  of  two  thousand  a  year,  of  which 
he  was  the  last  holder.  On  the  fall  of  Mr.  Pitt's 
ministry  in  March  1801,  Mr.  Grenville  ceased  to 
support  the  Tory  party,  and  renewed  his  political 
connection  with  Mr.  Fox,  and  in  1806,  shortly 
after  his  brother,  Lord  Grenville,  became  Prime 
Minister,  he  was  appointed  President  of  the 
Board  of  Control.  On  the  death  of  Mr.  Fox 
on  the  13th  of  September  1806,  he  succeeded 
Lord  Howick  as  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  a 
post  he  held  until  the  formation  of  the  Duke  of 
Portland's  administration  in  April  1807,  when 
he  finally  retired  from  office,  and  devoted  the 
remaining  forty  years  of  his  life  to  literature,  and 
to  the  collection  of  the  splendid  library,  which  is 
now  one  of  the  great  glories  of  the  British 
Museum.  From  an  early  age  Mr.  Grenville  was 
animated  by  an  ardent  love  for  books,  and  took 
a  great  interest  in  the  development  of  the  National 
Library,  of  which  he  was  for  many  years  a  Trustee. 
He  died  at  Hamilton  Place,  Piccadilly,  on  the 


RIGHT  HON.  THOMAS  GRENVILLE     283 

17th  of  December  1846,  at  the  age  of  ninety-one. 
Mr.  Grenville  had  originally  bequeathed  his 
library  to  his  great-nephew  the  Duke  of  Bucking- 


Thomas  Grenville.    After  a  Portrait  by  Hoppner. 

ham,  but  the  circumstance  that  it  was  principally 
purchased  from  the  profits  of  the  sinecure  office 
which  he  had  held  for  so  many  years,  led  him  to 


284         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

the  conclusion  that  it  was  'a  debt  and  a  duty' 
that  the  collection  so  acquired  should  be  de\' 
to  the  use  of  the  public.  In  the  autumn  of  1845, 
in  the  course  of  a  conversation  with  his  friend 
Mr.  Panizzi,  afterwards  Sir  Anthony  Panizzi, 
then  Keeper  of  Printed  Books  in  the  British 
Museum,  he  informed  him  of  his  intention ;  and 
after  his  death  it  was  found  that  he  had  revoked 
the  bequest  to  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  left 
his  noble  collection  to  the  nation.  A  full  and 
interesting  description  of  the  printed  books  in 
the  library  by  Sir  Anthony  Panizzi  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Report  on  the  accessions  to  the  Museum 
for  the  year  1847,  and  we  cannot  do  better  than 
give  the  account  of  them  in  the  words  of  the 
famous  librarian,  who  had  himself  much  to  do 
with  the  acquisition  of  this  magnificent  gift : — 

1  With  exception  of  the  Collection  of  His 
Majesty  George  the  Third,  the  Library  of  the 
British  Museum  has  never  received  an  accession 
so  important  in  every  respect  as  the  Collection 
of  the  Right  Honourable  Thomas  Grenville.  .  .  . 
Formed  and  preserved  with  the  exquisite  taste 
of  an  accomplished  bibliographer,  with  the  learn- 
ing of  a  profound  and  elegant  scholar,  and  the 
splendid  liberality  of  a  gentleman  in  affluent 
circumstances,  who  employed  in  adding  to  his 
library  whatever  his  generous  heart  allowed  him 
to  spare  from  silently  relieving  those  whose  wants 
he   alone   knew,    this   addition   to   the  National 


RIGHT  HON.  THOMAS  GRENVILLE     285 

Library  places  it  in  some  respects  above  all 
libraries  known,  in  others  it  leaves  it  inferior 
only  to  the  Royal  Library  at  Paris.  An  idea 
may  be  formed  of  the  literary  value  of  Mr.  Gren- 
ville's  Library  by  referring  to  its  pecuniary  value ; 
it  consists  of  20,240  volumes,  forming  about 
16,000  works,  which  cost  upwards  of  ;£  54,000, 
and  would  sell  for  more  now.  During  his  life- 
time, Mr.  Grenville's  library  was  most  liberally 
rendered  accessible  to  any  person,  however 
humble  his  condition  in  life,  who  could  show 
the  least  cause  for  asking  the  loan  of  any  of  his 
precious  volumes.  By  bequeathing  the  whole  to 
his  country,  Mr.  Grenville  has  secured  to  literary 
men,  even  after  his  death,  that  assistance,  as  far 
as  it  relates  to  the  use  of  his  books,  which  he 
so  generously  bestowed  on  them  in  every  way 
during  his  long  and  dignified  career ; — the  career 
of  a  man  of  high  birth,  distinguished  for  uniting 
to  a  powerful  and  cultivated  intellect  a  warm  and 
benevolent  heart.' 

Sir  Anthony  Panizzi,  in  describing  the  contents 
of  the  collection,  adds :  '  It  would  naturally  be 
expected  that  one  of  the  editors  of  the  "  Adelphi 
Homer  "  would  lose  no  opportunity  of  collecting 
the  best  and  rarest  editions  of  the  Prince  of  Poets. 
JEsop,  a  favourite  author  of  Mr.  Grenville,  occurs 
in  his  Library  in  its  rarest  forms ;  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  series  of  editions  of  this  author  in 
that  library  is  unrivalled.     The  great  admiration 


286        ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

which  Mr.  Grenville  felt  for  Cardinal  XimeiR  , 
even  more  on  account  of  the  splendid  edition  of 
the  Polyglot  Bible  which  that  prelate  caused  to 
be  printed  at  Alcala,  than  of  his  public  character, 
made  him  look  upon  the  acquisition  of  the 
Moschus,  a  book  of  extreme  rarity,  as  a  piece  of 
good  fortune.  Among  the  extremely  rare  editions 
of  the  Latin  Classics,  in  which  the  Grenville 
Library  abounds,  the  unique  complete  copy  of 
Azzoguidi's  first  edition  of  Ovid  is  a  gem  well 
deserving  particular  notice,  and  was  considered, 
on  the  wnole,  by  Mr.  Grenville  himself,  the  boast 
of  his  collection.  The  Aldine  Virgil  of  1505,  the 
rarest  of  the  Aldine  editions  of  this  poet,  is  the 
more  welcome  to  the  Museum,  as  it  serves  to 
supply  a  lacuna;  the  copy  mentioned  in  the 
Catalogue  of  the  Royal  Collection  not  having 
been  transferred  to  the  National  Library. 

1  The  rarest  editions  of  English  Poets  claimed 
and  obtained  the  special  attention  of  Mr.  Gren- 
ville. Hence  we  find  him  possessing  not  only 
the  first  and  second  edition  of  Chaucer's  Canter- 
bury Tales  by  Caxton,  but  the  only  copy  known 
of  a  hitherto  undiscovered  edition  of  the  same 
work  printed  in  1498  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde. 
Of  Shakespeare's  collected  Dramatic  Works,  the 
Grenville  Library  contains  a  copy  of  the  first 
edition,  which,  if  not  the  finest  known,  is  at  all 
events  surpassed  by  none.  His  strong  religious 
feelings,    and    his    sincere    attachment    to    the 


RIGHT  HON.  THOMAS  GRENVILLE     287 

Established  Church,  as  well  as  his  mastery  and 
knowledge  of  the  English  Language,  concurred 
in  making  him  eager  to  possess  the  earliest,  as 
well  as  the  rarest,  editions  of  the  translations  of 
the  Scriptures  in  the  vernacular  tongue.  He 
succeeded  to  a  great  extent ;  but  what  deserves 
particular  mention  is  the  only  known  fragment 
of  the  New  Testament  in  English,  translated  by 
Tyndale  and  Roy,  which  was  in  the  press  of 
Quentell,  at  Cologne,  in  1525,  when  the  printers 
were  obliged  to  interrupt  the  printing,  and  fly  to 
escape  persecution. 

1  The  History  of  the  British  Empire,  and  what- 
ever could  illustrate  any  of  its  different  portions, 
were  the  subject  of  Mr.  Grenville's  unremitting 
research,  and  he  allowed  nothing  to  escape  him 
deserving  to  be  preserved,  however  rare  and 
expensive.  Hence  his  collection  of  works  on  the 
Divorce  of  Henry  vm. ;  that  of  Voyages  and 
Travels,  either  by  Englishmen,  or  to  countries 
at  some  time  more  or  less  connected  with  Eng- 
land, or  possessed  by  her ;  that  of  contemporary 
works  on  the  gathering,  advance,  and  defeat  of 
the  "Invincible  Armada";  and  that  of  writings 
on  Ireland, — are  more  numerous,  more  valuable, 
and  more  interesting  than  in  any  other  collection 
ever  made  by  any  person  on  the  same  subjects. 
Among  the  Voyages  and  Travels,  the  collections 
of  De  Bry  and  Hulsius  are  the  finest  in  the 
world ;  no  other  library  can  boast  of  four  such 


288         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

fine  books  as  the  copies  of  Hariot's  Virginia,  in 
Latin,  German,  French,  and  English  of  the 
De  Bry  series.  And  it  was  fitting  that  in  Mr. 
Grenville's  library  should  be  found  one  of  the 
only  two  copies  known  of  the  first  edition  of  this 
work,  printed  in  London  in  1588,  wherein  an 
account  is  given  of  a  colony  which  had  been 
founded  by  his  family  namesake,  Sir  Richard 
Grenville. 

'  Conversant  with  the  language  and  literature 
of  Spain,  as  well  as  with  that  of  Italy,  the  works 
of  imagination  by  writers  of  those  two  countries 
are  better  represented  in  his  library  than  in  any 
other  out  of  Spain  and  Italy ;  in  some  branches 
better  even  than  in  any  single  library  in  the 
countries  themselves.  No  Italian  collection  can 
boast  of  such  a  splendid  series  of  early  editions 
of  Ariosto's  Orlando,  one  of  Mr.  Grenville's 
favourite  authors,  nor,  indeed,  of  such  choice 
Romance  Poems.  The  copy  of  the  first  edition 
of  Ariosto  is  not  to  be  matched  for  beauty ;  of 
that  of  Rome,  1533,  even  the  existence  was 
hitherto  unknown.  A  perfect  copy  of  the  first 
complete  edition  of  the  Morgante  Maggiore  of 
1482,  was  also  not  known  to  exist  before  Mr. 
Grenville  succeeded  in  procuring  his.  Among 
the  Spanish  Romances,  the  copy  of  that  of  "Tirant 
lo  Blanch,"  printed  at  Valencia  in  1490,  is  as  fine, 
as  clean,  and  as  white  as  when  it  first  issued 
from   the   press ;    and    no   second   copy  of  this 


RIGHT  HON.  THOMAS  GRENVILLE     289 

edition  of  a  work  professedly  translated  from 
English  into  Portuguese,  and  thence  into  Valen- 
cian,  is  known  to  exist  except  in  the  library  of 
the  Sapienza  at  Rome. 

1  But  where  there  is  nothing  common,  it  is 
almost  depreciating  a  collection  to  enumerate  a 
few  articles  as  rare.  It  is  a  marked  feature  of 
this  library,  that  Mr.  Grenville  did  not  collect 
mere  bibliographical  rarities.  He  never  aimed  at 
having  a  complete  set  of  the  editions  from  the 
press  of  Caxton  or  Aldus;  but  Chaucer  and 
Gower  by  Caxton  were  readily  purchased,  as  well 
as  other  works  which  were  desirable  on  other 
accounts,  besides  that  of  having  issued  from  the 
press  of  that  printer ;  and,  when  possible,  select 
copies  were  procured.  Some  of  the  rarest,  and 
these  the  finest,  Aldine  editions  were  purchased 
by  him  for  the  same  reasons.  The  Horae  in 
Greek,  printed  by  Aldus  in  i6mo  in  1497,  *s  a 
volume  which,  from  its  language,  size,  and 
rarity,  is  of  the  greatest  importance  for  the 
literary  and  religious  history  of  the  time  when  it 
was  printed.  It  is,  therefore,  in  Mr.  Grenville's 
library.  The  Virgil  of  1501  is  not  only  an 
elegant  book,  but  it  is  the  first  book  printed  with 
that  peculiar  Italic,  known  as  Aldine,  and  the 
first  volume  which  Aldus  printed,  "  forma  enchi- 
ridii,"  as  he  called  it,  being  expressly  adapted  to 
give  poor  scholars  the  means  of  purchasing  for  a 
small  sum  the  works  of  the  classical  writers.    This 

20 


29o        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

also  is,  therefore,  among  Mr.  Grenville's  books ; 
and  of  one  of  the  two  editions  of  Virgil,  both 
dated  the  same  year,  15 14,  he  purchased  a  large 
paper  copy,  because  it  was  the  more  correct  of  the 
two. 

1  It  was  the  merit  of  the  work,  the  elegance  of 
the  volume,  the  "genuine"  condition  of  the  copy, 
etc.,  which  together  determined  Mr.  Grenville  to 
purchase  books  printed  on  vellum,  of  which  he 
collected  nearly  a  hundred.  He  paid  a  very  large 
sum  for  a  copy  of  the  Furioso  of  1532,  not  because 
it  was  "on  ugly  vellum,"  as  he  very  properly 
designated  it,  but  because,  knowing  the  import- 
ance of  such  an  edition  of  such  a  work,  and  never 
having  succeeded  in  procuring  it  on  paper,  he 
would  rather  have  it  on  expensive  terms  and 
"  ugly  vellum,"  than  not  at  all. 

'  By  the  bequest  of  Mr.  Grenville's  library,  the 
collection  of  books  printed  on  vellum  now  at  the 
Museum,  and  comprising  those  formerly  presented 
by  George  11.,  George  111.,  and  Mr.  Cracherode,  is 
believed  to  surpass  that  of  any  other  National 
Library,  except  the  King's  Library  at  Paris,  of 
which  Van  Praet  justly  speaks  with  pride,  and  all 
foreign  competent  and  intelligent  judges  with 
envy  and  admiration.  Injustice  to  the  Grenville 
Library,  the  list  of  all  its  vellum  books  ought 
here  to  be  inserted.  As  this  cannot  be  done, 
some  only  of  the  most  remarkable  shall  be 
mentioned.     These  are — the  Greek  Anthology  of 


RIGHT  HON.  THOMAS  GRENVILLE     291 

1494 ;  the  Book  of  Hawking,  of  Juliana  Berners, 
of  1496 ;  the  first  edition  of  the  Bible,  known  as 
the  "Mazarine  Bible,"  printed  at  Mentz  about 
1454;  the  Aldine  Dante  of  1502;  the  first 
Rationale  of  Durandus  of  1459  J  the  first  edition 
of  Fisher  On  the  Psalms,  of  1508;  the  Aldine 
Horace,  Juvenal,  Martial,  and  Petrarca,  of  1501; 
the  Livy  of  1469;  the  Primer  of  Salisbury,  printed 
in  Paris  in  1531  ;  the  Psalter  of  1457,  which 
supplies  the  place  of  the  one  now  at  Windsor, 
which  belonged  to  the  Royal  Collection  before  it 
was  transferred  to  the  British  Museum ;  the 
Sforziada,  by  Simoneta,  of  1490,  a  most  splendid 
volume  even  in  so  splendid  a  library;  the 
Theuerdank  of  151 7;  the  Aulus  Gellius  and  the 
Vitruvius  of  Giunta,  printed  in  1513,  etc.,  etc. 
Of  this  identical  copy  of  Vitruvius,  formerly  Mr. 
Dent's,  the  author  of  the  Bibliographical  Deca- 
meron wrote,  "  Let  the  enthusiastic  admirers  of  a 
genuine  vellum  Junta — of  the  amplest  size  and 
in  spotless  condition — resort  to  the  choice  cabinet 
of  Mr.  Dent  for  such  a  copy  of  this  edition  of 
Vitruvius  and  Frontinus."  The  Aulus  Gellius  is 
in  its  original  state,  exactly  as  it  was  when 
presented  to  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  afterwards  Duke 
of  Urbino,  to  whom  the  edition  was  dedicated.' 

In  addition  to  the  printed  books,  the  Grenville 
Library  contains  sixty-four  manuscripts,  many  of 
them  being  of  great  interest  and  value.  The 
finest  of  them  is  a  volume  of  exquisite  miniature 


292         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

drawings  by  Giulio  Clovio,  executed  by  command 
of  Philip  ii.  of  Spain,  and  representing  the 
victories  of  the  Emperor  Charles  v.  This  volume 
was  formerly  in  the  Escurial.  Other  notable 
manuscripts  are  the  original  drawings  for  Hariot's 
Virginia  in  the  De  Bry  collection,  made  by  John 
White ;  Norden's  Description  of  Essex ;  the 
Third  Voyage  of  Vespucius  in  Latin ;  and  two 
very  interesting  documents  relating  to  the  Spanish 
Armada — one  being  an  original  letter  from  the 
Lords  of  the  Council  to  the  Lord  High  Admiral, 
regarding  the  preparation  of  the  fleet,  dated 
July  21,  1588;  and  the  other,  a  Resolution  of  a 
Council  of  War,  held  by  the  admirals  and  captains 
of  the  fleet  which  dispersed  the  Armada,  dated 
August  1,  1588.  The  former  of  these  papers  is 
signed  by  Chr.  Hatton  (Canes.),  W.  Burghley, 
F.  Knollys,  T.  Heneage,  Poulet,  and  J.  Wolley ; 
the  latter  by  C.  Howard,  George  Cumberland, 
T.  Howarde,  Edmonde  Sheffeylde,  Fr.  Drake, 
Edw.  Hoby,  John  Hawkyns,  and  Thomas 
Fenner. 

There  is  a  catalogue  of  Mr.  Grenville's  library 
in  three  parts  (London,  1842-72).  Parts  1  and 
2  were  compiled  by  Messrs.  Payne  and  Foss,  the 
booksellers  of  Pall  Mall,  who  bought  largely  for 
him  ;  and  part  3  by  Mr.  W.  B.  Rye,  the  late 
Keeper  of  the  Department  of  Printed  Books, 
British  Museum. 

A  portrait  of  Mr.  Grenville  by  Hoppner  has 


FRANCIS  DOUCE  293 

been  engraved  for  Fisher's  National  Portrait 
Gallery.  There  is  also  a  painting  of  him  by 
Phillips  at  Althorp,  and  a  miniature  by  C. 
Manzini  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

A  bust  of  him,  presented  by  Sir  David  Dundas, 
is  placed  in  the  room  in  the  British  Museum 
occupied  by  his  library. 


FRANCIS  DOUCE,  1757-1834 

Francis  Douce,  who  was  born  in  1 757,  was  a  son 
of  Thomas  Douce,  one  of  the  Six  Clerks  of  the 
Court  of  Chancery.  He  was  first  sent  to  a 
school  at  Richmond,  conducted  by  a  Mr.  Lawton, 
author  of  a  work  on  Egypt,  and  afterwards  to  '  a 
French  academy,  kept  by  a  pompous  and  ignorant 
Life-Guardsman,  with  a  view  to  his  learning 
merchants'  accounts,  which  were  his  aversion.' 
On  leaving  school  he  studied  for  the  bar,  and  for 
some  time  held  an  appointment,  under  his  father, 
in  the  Six  Clerks'  Office,  but  the  post  was  not 
very  congenial  to  him,  as  from  an  early  age  he 
devoted  himself  to  books  and  antiquities,  and  he 
also  had  a  great  passion  for  music.  His  father, 
who  died  in  1799,  bequeathed  the  greater  part  of 
his  property,  which  was  very  considerable,  to 
his  elder  son,  leaving  but  a  comparatively  small 
amount  to  be  divided  between  Francis  and  his 
sisters,  but  in  1823  Nollekens,  the  sculptor,  left 


294         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Douce  so  large  a  portion  of  his  fortune  that  .it 
the  decease  of  the  latter  his  property  was  valued 
at  nearly  eighty  thousand  pounds.  In  1807  nc 
succeeded  the  Rev.  Robert  Nares  as  Keeper  of 
the  Manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum,  but 
resigned  the  post  in  181 2  in  consequence  of  some 
trifling  disagreement  with  one  of  the  trustees. 
While  holding  this  office  he  took  part  in  the 
preparation  of  the  catalogues  of  the  Harleian  and 
Lansdowne  manuscripts.  Douce  published  in 
1807  Illustrations  of  Shakspeare  and  Ancient 
Manners,  and  in  1833  TJte  Dance  of  Death, 
'  exhibited  in  elegant  Engravings  on  wood,  with  a 
Dissertation  on  the  several  Representations  on 
that  Subject.'  The  substance  of  this  Disserta- 
tion had  appeared  about  forty  years  before  in 
illustration  of  Hollar's  etchings,  published  by 
Edwards  of  Pall  Mall,  London.  In  addition 
to  these  works  he  edited  Arnold's  Chronicle  in 
181 1,  two  books  for  the  Roxburghe  Club  in  1822 
and  1824,  and  assisted  in  the  production  of  Scott's 
Sir  Tristram,  Smith's  Vagabondiniana,  and  the 
1824  edition  of  Warton's  History  of  English 
Poetry.  Many  papers  also  by  him  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Archceologia,  the  Vetusta  Monu- 
menta,  and  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine.  Douce 
was  a  prominent  Fellow  of  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries, and  numbered  among  his  friends  Isaac 
DTsraeli,  the  Rev.  C.  M.  Cracherode,  Sir  George 
Staunton,  Mr.  John  Towneley,  and  Dr.  Dibdin, 


FRANCIS  DOUCE  295 

to  the  last  of  whom  he  left  five  hundred  pounds. 
He  is  introduced  under  the  name  of  Prospero  in 
Dibdin's  Bibliomania.  Douce  died  at  his  resi- 
dence in  Gower  Street,  London,  on  the  30th  of 
March  1834,  and  he  left  in  his  will  two  hundred 
pounds  to  Sir  Anthony  Carlisle  '  requesting  him 
either  to  sever  my  head  or  extract  the  heart  from 
my  body,  so  as  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  the 
return  of  vitality.'  His  valuable  collection  of 
printed  books,  which  consisted  of  sixteen  thousand 
four  hundred  and  eighty  volumes,  with  a  quantity 
of  fragments  of  early  English  works,  including 
two  printed  by  Caxton,  which  are  unique ;  three 
hundred  and  ninety-three  manuscripts,  many 
of  them  beautifully  illuminated ;  ninety-eight 
charters ;  a  large  number  of  valuable  drawings 
and  prints ;  together  with  a  collection  of  coins 
and  medals,  were  left  by  him  to  the  Bodleian 
Library.  It  is  said  that  this  bequest  was  the 
result  of  the  courteous  reception  he  received  from 
Dr.  Bandinel,  the  librarian,  when  Douce  visited 
Oxford  with  Isaac  D' Israeli  in  1830.  The 
carvings  in  ivory  or  other  materials,  and  the 
miscellaneous  curiosities,  were  bequeathed  to  Dr., 
afterwards  Sir  Samuel  Rush  Meyrick,  of  Goodrich 
Castle,  Wales,  who  published  an  account  of  them, 
entitled  The  Doucean  Museum.  To  the  British 
Museum  Douce  left  a  volume  of  the  works  of 
Albert  Dlirer  which  had  formerly  belonged  to 
Nollekens,   his    impressions   from    monumental 


296        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

brasses,  and  his  '  commented  copies  of  the  block- 
head Whitaker's  History  of  Manchester,  and  his 
Cornwall  Cathedral.'  His  will  also  directs  his 
executor  '  to  collect  together  all  my  letters  and 
correspondence,  all  my  private  manuscripts,  and 
unfinished  or  even  finished  essays  or  intended 
work  or  works,  memorandum  books,  especially 
such  as  are  marked  in  the  inside  of  their  covers 
with  a  red  cross,  with  the  exception  only  of  such 
articles  as  he  may  think  proper  to  destroy,  as  my 
diaries,  or  other  articles  of  a  merely  private 
nature,  and  to  put  them  into  a  strong  box,  to  be 
sealed  up  without  lock  or  key,  and  with  a  brass 
plate  inscribed  "  Mr.  Douce's  papers,  to  be  opened 
on  the  ist  of  January  1900,"  and  then  to  deposit 
this  box  in  the  British  Museum,  or,  if  the 
Trustees  should  decline  receiving  it,  I  then  wish 
it  to  remain  with  the  other  things  bequeathed  to 
the  Bodleian  Library.'  The  Trustees  accepted 
the  charge  of  the  box,  and  it  was  opened  at  the 
time  appointed,  but  nothing  of  literary  value  was 
found  in  it. 

A  catalogue  of  the  printed  books,  manuscripts, 
charters  and  fragments  presented  by  Douce  to 
the  Bodleian  was  published  in  1840,  and  there 
is  also  a  manuscript  catalogue  of  the  prints  and 
drawings. 


JAMES  EDWARDS  297 


JAMES  EDWARDS,  1757-1816 

James  Edwards,  who  was  so  ardent  a  collector 
that  he  directed  that  his  coffin  should  be  made 
out  of  the  shelves  of  his  library,  was  born  in 
1 757.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  William  Edwards, 
an  eminent  bookseller  of  Halifax,  Yorkshire,  who 
was  noted  both  for  his  success  in  collecting  rare 
books,  and  his  skill  and  taste  in  binding  them. 
In  1784  James  Edwards  and,  along  with  him,  his 
younger  brother  John,  were  set  up  by  their  father 
as  booksellers  in  Pall  Mall,  London,  under  the 
title  of  Edwards  and  Sons.  John  died  soon  after- 
wards, but  the  business  was  conducted  with  great 
ability  and  success  by  the  elder  brother,  who,  Dib- 
din  says,  'travelled  diligently  and  fearlessly  abroad; 
now  exploring  the  book-gloom  of  dusty  mon- 
asteries, and  at  other  times  marching  in  the  rear 
or  front  of  Bonaparte's  armies  in  Italy.' 

Edwards  was  a  bookbinder  as  well  as  a  book- 
seller, and  in  1785  he  took  out  a  patent  for 
'  embellishing  books  bound  in  vellum  by  making 
drawings  on  the  vellum  which  are  not  liable  to 
be  defaced  but  by  destroying  the  vellum  itself.' 
This  was  accomplished  by  rendering  the  vellum 
transparent,  and  then  painting  or  impressing 
the  design  on  the  under  surface.  The  British 
Museum  possesses  a  Prayer  Book  bound  by 
Edwards   in   this  manner  for  Queen  Charlotte, 

2  p 


298        ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

wife  of  King  George  in.,  which  is  a  very  skilful 
and  artistic  piece  of  work.  Both  he  and  his 
father  were  also  celebrated  for  the  pretty  painting  5 
with  which  they  decorated  the  edges  of  the  leaves 
of  the  books  they  bound.  In  1788  Edwards, 
accompanied  by  his  friend  and  fellow  bookseller 
James  Robson,  went  to  Venice  for  the  purpose 
of  purchasing  the  Pinelli  Library,  which  they 
brought  to  England,  and  sold  by  auction  in  the 
following  year.  Many  other  collections  of  note 
were  sold  by  him  during  the  twenty  years  he 
remained  in  business.  Having  amassed  a  con- 
siderable fortune,  he  determined  to  retire  from 
trade,  and  in  1805  purchased  the  fine  old  manor- 
house  at  Harrow,  which  for  some  time  was  one  of 
the  residences  of  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury. 
A  part  of  Dibdin's  Bibliographical  Decameron 
was  written  on  the  garden  terrace  of  this  mansion, 
Edwards  being  the  '  Rinaldo'  of  that  work.  In 
consequence  of  ill-health  he  determined  in  181 5 
to  part  with  the  remainder  of  his  library  (a  portion 
of  the  books  had  been  disposed  of  by  Christie 
on  his  retirement  in  1804),  and  it  was  sold  by 
his  successor  in  the  Pall  Mall  business,  Robert 
Harding  Evans,  who  became  so  well  known  as 
a  book  auctioneer.  The  sale  consisted  of  but 
eight  hundred  and  thirty  lots,  but  it  realised  the 
large  sum  of  eight  thousand  four  hundred  and 
twenty-one  pounds,  seventeen  shillings.  Edwards 
died  at  Harrow  on  the  2nd  of  January  1816,  and 


JAMES  EDWARDS  299 

a  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory  in  the 
parish  church. 

Edwards's  collection  was  not  a  large  one,  but 
it  contained  some  exceedingly  rare  and  choice 
manuscripts  and  printed  books.  Among  the  most 
precious  of  the  former  was  the  famous  Bedford 
Book  of  Hours,  which  he  acquired  at  the  Duchess 
of  Portland's  sale  in  1786  for  two  hundred  and 
thirteen  pounds,  and  which  was  purchased  at  his 
own  sale  by  the  Marquis  of  Blandford,  afterwards 
Duke  of  Marlborough,  for  six  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven  pounds,  fifteen  shillings.  It  is  now  in  the 
British  Museum.  Other  fine  manuscripts  were 
a  copy  of  the  Gospels  in  Greek,  written  in  the 
tenth  century;  Opera  Horatii,  executed  for 
Ferdinand  1.  King  of  Naples,  which  realised 
respectively  two  hundred  and  ten  and  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds ;  and  Regole  e 
Precetti  della  Pittura,  written  by  Leonardo  da 
Vinci,  and  illustrated  with  original  drawings  by 
Nicholas  Poussin,  which  fetched  one  hundred 
and  two  pounds,  eighteen  shillings. 

Among  the  printed  books  were  the  Latin 
Bible,  on  vellum,  printed  at  Mentz,  by  Fust  and 
Schoeffer,  in  1462,  which  realised  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  pounds ;  and  the  first  edition 
of  Livy,  also  on  vellum,  printed  by  Sweynheym 
and  Pannartz  at  Rome  about  1469.  This  copy, 
the  only  one  known  on  vellum,  belonged  to  Pope 
Alexander  vi.,  and  was  bought  by  Sir  M.   M. 


3oo        ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Sykes  for  nine  hundred  and  three  pounds.  It 
was  afterwards  acquired  by  the  Right  Hon. 
Thomas  Grenville,  and  bequeathed  by  him  to 
the  British  Museum.  Luther's  own  copy  of  the 
first  edition  of  his  translation  of  the  Bible  after 
his  final  revision,  printed  at  Wittemberg  in  1541, 
with  ms.  notes  by  himself,  Bugenhagen  and 
Melanchthon,  which  is  also  now  in  the  British 
Museum,  sold  for  eighty-nine  pounds,  five 
shillings ;  and  a  splendid  set  of  the  Opere  di 
Piranesi  for  three  hundred  and  fifteen  pounds. 
A  fine  and  perfect  block-book,  the  Biblia 
Pauperum,  was  also  among  the  treasures  of  the 
library,  and  was  purchased  by  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire  for  two  hundred  and  ten  pounds. 


GEORGE  HIBBERT,  1757-1837 

George  Hibbert  was  born  at  Manchester  in  the 
year  1757.  His  father  was  Robert  Hibbert,  a 
West  India  merchant.  Destined  from  his  boy- 
hood to  a  commercial  life,  he  was  educated  at  a 
private  school,  and  on  leaving  Lancashire  he 
joined  a  London  firm  engaged  in  the  West  India 
trade,  in  which,  first  as  a  junior  partner,  and 
afterwards  as  the  head  of  the  firm,  he  remained 
nearly  half  a  century.  In  1798  Mr.  Hibbert  was 
elected  an  alderman,  but  resigned  his  gown  in 
1803,  and  in  1806  he  entered  Parliament  as  one 


GEORGE  HIBBERT  301 

of  the  members  for  Seaford,  Sussex,  and  sat  for 
that  borough  until  181 2.  He  was  also  chairman 
of  the  West  India  merchants,  and  agent  for 
Jamaica.  The  construction  of  the  West  India 
Docks  was  largely  owing  to  his  exertions,  and 
as  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  committee 
of  the  London  Institution,  he  took  a  prominent 
part  in  its  foundation  and  management,  and  for 
many  years  he  filled  the  office  of  president.  Mr. 
Hibbert  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society 
in  181 1,  and  a  Fellow  of  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries in  the  following  year.  He  was  also  a 
Fellow  of  the  Linnaean  Society,  and  formed  at 
his  residence  at  Clapham  a  large  collection  of 
exotic  plants,  many  of  which  were  first  intro- 
duced into  this  country  by  the  agents  he  em- 
ployed in  almost  every  part  of  the  globe.  He 
married  Elizabeth  Margaret,  daughter  of  Mr. 
Philip  Fonnereau,  by  whom  he  had  a  large 
family.  Mr.  Hibbert  died  on  the  8th  of  October 
1837,  a*  Munden  House,  near  Watford,  Hert- 
fordshire, and  was  buried  in  the  churchyard  of 
Aldenham,  in  the  same  county. 

Mr.  Hibbert,  who  was  the  'Honorio'  of  Dibdin's 
Bibliographical  Decameron,  was  a  patron  of  art, 
and  an  enthusiastic  collector  of  books,  pictures, 
and  prints  and  drawings.  He  formed  a  splendid 
library  at  his  houses  at  Clapham,  and  in  Portland 
Place,  London,  which  is  believed  to  have  cost 
him  at  least  thirty-five  thousand   pounds.      It 


302         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

contained  a  large  number  of  early  printed  Bibles, 
and  was  particularly  rich  in  rare  editions  of  the 
French  Romances,  and  of  English  and  Italian 
Poetry.  No  fewer  than  eighty  of  the  books  WOK 
printed  on  vellum.  The  collection  also  comprised 
twenty-five  manuscripts. 

When,  in  1829,  Mr.  Hibbert  retired  to  his 
estate  of  Munden,  which  had  been  bequeathed  to 
him  by  Mr.  Roger  Parker,  an  uncle  of  his  wife,  he 
found  that  the  size  of  his  new  residence  rendered 
it  necessary  that  he  should  dispose  of  the  greater 
part  of  his  collections,  and  his  library  was  sold 
by  auction  by  Mr.  Evans  at  93  Pall  Mall  in 
three  divisions.  The  sales  occupied  altogether 
forty-two  days.  The  first  commenced  on  the 
1 6th  of  March,  and  the  last  on  the  25th  of  May 
1829.  There  were  eight  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  ninety-four  lots,  representing  about  twenty 
thousand  volumes ;  and  the  total  amount  realised 
was  twenty-one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
fifty-three  pounds,  nine  shillings.  The  books 
sold  for  comparatively  small  sums.  A  copy  of 
the  sale  catalogue,  with  the  prices  obtained  for 
the  books  and  the  names  of  the  purchasers,  is 
preserved  in  the  library  of  the  British  Museum. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  principal  books 
in  this  magnificent  collection,  together  with  the 
prices  they  fetched  at  the  sale : — 

The  Gutenberg  Bible,  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
pounds. 


GEORGE  HIBBERT  303 

The  Mentz  Psalter  of  1459,  ninety  pounds, 
six  shillings. 

The  Latin  Bible  printed  by  Fust  and  Schoeffer 
at  Mentz  in  1462,  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
pounds,  two  shillings. 

The  Latin  Bible,  printed  at  Paris  in  1476, 
thirty-two  pounds,  eleven  shillings. 

The  Latin  Bible,  printed  by  Jenson  at  Venice 
in  1479.  A  very  fine  copy,  which  formerly 
belonged  to  Pope  Sixtus  iv.,  ninety-eight  pounds, 
fourteen  shillings. 

The  Complutensian  Polyglot  Bible,  said  to 
have  been  Cardinal  Ximenes's  own  copy,  for 
which  Mr.  Hibbert  gave  sixteen  thousand  one 
hundred  francs  at  the  MacCarthy  sale,  five 
hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds. 

Luther's  own  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  his 
translation  of  the  Bible  after  his  final  revision. 
This  volume,  which  is  now  in  the  British  Museum, 
contains  his  autograph,  and  also  the  autographs 
of  Bugenhagen,  Melanchthon,  and  G.  Major,  two 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  pounds. 

The  first  and  second  editions  of  Cicero's 
Officia,  printed  by  Fust  and  Schoeffer  at  Mentz 
in  1465  and  1466,  eighty-two  pounds,  ten  shil- 
lings ;  and  fifty-nine  pounds. 

Cicero's  Epistolce  ad  Familiares,  printed  by 
Joannes  de  Spira  at  Venice  in  1469,  eighty 
pounds. 

Petrarch's  Sonet ti,  Canzoni  e  Trionfi,  printed 


3o4         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

by  Jenson  at  Venice  in  1473;  the  only  copy  known 
on  vellum,  eighty  pounds,  seventeen  shillings. 

A  presentation  copy  to  Cardinal  Sforza  of  the 
Sforziada,  printed  at  Milan  in  1490;  in  the 
original  velvet  binding,  with  silver  knops,  one 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  pounds.  The  last  two 
volumes  are  now  preserved  in  the  Grenville 
Library  in  the  British  Museum. 

Poliphili  Hypncrotomachia,  printed  by  Aldus 
at  Venice  in  1499,  eighty-two  pounds,  nineteen 
shillings. 

Missale  Vallisumbrose,  printed  by  Lucantonio 
di  Giunta  at  Venice  in  1503,  sixty-four  pounds, 
one  shilling. 

All  the  above  books  are  printed  on  vellum. 
The  library  also  contained  several  fine  block- 
books  :  the  first  edition  of  the  Speculum  Humance 
Salvationist  the  Apocalypsis,  and  the  first  edition 
of  Ars  Memorandi,  which  sold  respectively  for 
eighty  pounds  ;  thirty-one  pounds,  ten  shillings  ; 
and  twenty-six  pounds,  ten  shillings.  The 
Catholicon  of  Joannes  Balbus  de  Janua,  printed 
at  Mentz  in  1460,  and  five  Caxtons :  the  first 
edition  of  the  Dictes  or  Sayings  of  t lie  Philoso- 
phers, Fayts  of  Arms,  the  second  edition  of  the 
Mirrour  of  the  World,  the  Recuyell  of  the  His- 
tories of  Troye,  and  the  Royal  Book,  were  to  be 
found  in  the  collection.  Thirty-six  pounds,  four 
shillings  and  sixpence  was  obtained  for  the 
Catholicon,  and   three   hundred  and  thirty-nine 


GEORGE  HIBBERT  305 

pounds,  thirteen  shillings  and  sixpence  for  the 
Caxtons.  Of  these  the  Recuyell  fetched  the 
highest  price  —  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
pounds,  ten  shillings.  Some  other  notable  books 
in  this  marvellous  library  were  the  Dante,  printed 
at  Florence  in  1481,  which  realised  forty  pounds, 
nineteen  shillings  ;  the  first  edition  of  the  Teseide 
of  Boccaccio,  which  was  disposed  of  for  one 
hundred  and  sixty  pounds ;  a  very  fine  copy  of 
Smith's  Historie  of  Virginia,  which  sold  for 
thirteen  guineas ;  and  the  first  four  folio  Shake- 
speares.  The  prices  obtained  for  these  were 
eighty-five  pounds,  one  shilling ;  thirteen  pounds  ; 
twenty-four  pounds ;  and  three  pounds,  nine 
shillings. 

The  more  important  manuscripts  were  Prcz- 
paratio  ad  Missam,  written  and  illuminated  for 
Pope  Leo  x.,  which  fetched  ninety-nine  pounds, 
fifteen  shillings ;  Droits  d'Armes  et  de  Noblesse, 
ninety-four  pounds,  ten  shillings ;  Roman  de  la 
Rose,  eighty-four  pounds ;  Missale  Romanum, 
sixty-one  pounds,  nineteen  shillings  ;  and  Romant 
des  Trois  Pelerinages,  thirty-one  pounds,  ten 
shillings.     These  were  all  written  on  vellum. 

In  18 19  Mr.  Hibbert  printed  for  the  Rox- 
burghe  Club,  from  a  manuscript  preserved  in 
the  Pepysian  Library  at  Magdalen  College,  Cam- 
bridge, Six  Bookes  of  Metamorphoseos  by  Ovyde, 
translated  from  the  French  by  Caxton,  together 
with  some  prefatory  remarks  by  himself. 

2Q 


306         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

REV.  CHARLES  BURNEY,  D.D.,  1757-1817 

Charles  Burney,  the  second  son  of  Charles 
Burney,  the  author  of  The  History  of  Music,  was 
born  at  Lynn,  Norfolk,  in  the  early  part  of 
December  (the  exact  date  is  uncertain)  1757.  He 
was  educated  at  the  Charterhouse,  and  Caius 
College,  Cambridge,  but  left  the  University  with- 
out taking  a  degree.  He  afterwards  became  a 
student  of  Kings  College,  Aberdeen,  where  he 
graduated  M.A.  in  1781.  After  leaving  the 
College  he  devoted  himself  to  educational  work, 
and  for  a  short  time  was  an  assistant  master 
at  Highgate  School,  which  he  left  to  join 
Dr.  William  Rose,  the  translator  of  Sallust,  in 
his  school  at  Chiswick.  In  1786,  having  married 
Rose's  second  daughter  in  1783,  he  opened  a 
school  of  his  own  at  Hammersmith,  which  he 
carried  on  until  1793,  when  he  removed  to 
Greenwich,  and  there  established  a  very  flourish- 
ing academy,  which  in  18 13  he  made  over  to  his 
son,  the  Rev.  Charles  Parr  Burney.  Late  in  life 
(1807)  Burney  took  orders,  and  was  appointed  to 
the  Rectory  of  St.  Paul's,  Deptford,  Kent,  and  in 
a  short  time  after  to  the  Rectory  of  Cliffe  in  the 
same  county.  In  181 1  he  was  made  Chaplain  to 
the  King,  and  in  181 7,  a  few  months  before  his 
death,  he  was  collated  to  a  prebendal  stall  in 
Lincoln  Cathedral.  He  received  the  degree  of 
LL.D.   from  the  Universities  of  Aberdeen  and 


REV.  CHARLES  BURNEY  307 

Glasgow  in  1792,  the  degree  of  M.A.  was  con- 
ferred on  him  by  Cambridge  University  in  1808, 
and  that  of  D.D.  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury in  18 1 2.  Burney,  who  was  the  friend  and 
companion  of  Dr.  Parr  and  Professor  Porson, 
wrote  several  works  on  the  Greek  and  Latin 
Classics,  as  well  as  one  or  two  of  a  theological 
nature.  He  died  of  apoplexy  at  Deptford  on  the 
28th  of  December  18 17,  and  a  monument  to  his 
memory  was  erected  in  Westminster  Abbey  by 
a  number  of  his  old  scholars. 

Dr.  Burney  realised  a  considerable  fortune  by 
his  scholastic  work,  and  the  money  which  he 
thus  acquired  enabled  him  to  form  a  library  of 
nearly  thirteen  thousand  five  hundred  volumes 
of  printed  books,  and  five  hundred  and  twenty 
manuscripts.  Among  the  latter  was  the  Towneley 
Homer,  believed  to  be  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  valued  at  six  hundred  guineas.  The  library 
was  particularly  rich  in  the  Greek  Classics, 
especially  the  dramatists  ;  comprising  as  many  as 
one  hundred  and  sixty-six  editions  of  Euripides, 
one  hundred  and  two  of  Sophocles,  and  forty- 
seven  of  ^Eschylus,  the  margins  of  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  classical  books  being  covered  with 
notes  in  Burney's  hand,  in  addition  to  those  by 
the  Stephens,  Bentley,  Markland,  and  others.  An- 
other very  interesting  feature  of  the  library  was 
the  large  number  of  English  newspapers  it  con- 
tained.     These  papers,  which  reached  from  the 


308        ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

reign  of  James  i.  until  nearly  the  end  of  that  of 
George  in.,  were  bound  in  about  seven  hundred 
volumes,  and  now  form  the  basis  of  the  splendid 
collection  in  the  British  Museum.  Dr.  Burncy 
also  amassed  from  three  to  four  hundred  volumes 
containing  materials  for  a  history  of  the  British 
Stage,  and  several  thousand  portraits  of  literary 
and  theatrical  personages.  On  the  death  of  the 
Doctor  his  library  was  purchased  for  the  British 
Museum  for  the  sum  of  thirteen  thousand  five 
hundred  pounds. 


GEORGE  JOHN,  SECOND  EARL 
SPENCER,  1758-1834 

George  John,  second  Earl  Spencer,  was  born 
on  the  1  st  of  September  1758.  He  was  the  only 
son  of  John  Spencer,  who  was  created  Viscount 
Spencer  of  Althorp  in  1761,  and  Earl  Spencer  in 
1765,  and  grandson  of  John,  the  youngest  son  of 
Charles  Spencer,  third  Earl  of  Sunderland.  At 
seven  years  of  age  he  was  placed  under  the  tutor- 
ship of  William  Jones,  the  famous  Orientalist, 
who  was  afterwards  knighted,  with  whom  he 
made  two  Continental  tours.  Jones  resigned  his 
charge  in  1770,  when  Lord  Althorp  was  sent  to 
Harrow,  and,  on  leaving  school,  to  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge.  In  1780  he  entered  Parliament  as 
member  for  Northampton,  and  on  the  formation 


SECOND  EARL  SPENCER      309 

of  the  second  Rockingham  Ministry  in  March 
1782  he  became  a  Commissioner  of  the  new 
Treasury  Board.  On  the  death  of  his  father  in 
1783,  Lord  Althorp  (who  had  married  in  1781 
Lavinia,  eldest  daughter  of  Charles,  first  Lord 
Lucan)  succeeded  to  the  title,  and  in  1784  was 
sent  with  Mr.  Thomas  Grenville  on  a  special 
mission  to  the  Court  of  Vienna.  During  his 
absence  from  England,  on  the  19th  of  July  in 
that  year,  he  was  made  Lord  Privy  Seal  in 
Mr.  Pitt's  Ministry,  which  office  he  resigned 
in  the  following  December  for  that  of  First  Lord 
of  the  Admiralty,  a  post  which  he  held  with  great 
credit  for  upwards  of  six  years.  After  his  retire- 
ment from  the  Admiralty  in  February  1801,  Lord 
Spencer  remained  out  of  office  until  February 
1806,  when  he  accepted  the  Secretaryship  of 
State  for  the  Home  Department  in  the  Grenville- 
Fox  Ministry.  On  the  dissolution  of  that 
ministry  in  March  1807,  he  finally  retired  from 
office,  but  continued  to  take  part  in  the  debates 
in  the  House  of  Lords.  He  died  on  the  10th  of 
November  1834,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest 
son  John  Charles. 

Lord  Spencer  was  a  most  energetic  and  en- 
lightened collector  of  books,  and  the  magnificent 
library  which,  until  the  year  1892,  was  one  of 
the  glories  of  Althorp,  testifies  to  the  skill  and 
liberality  with  which  he  collected  them.  A  taste 
for  literature  and  a  love  of  books  were  developed 


3io        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

in  Lord  Spencer  at  an  early  age,  and  he  was  but 
thirty-two  when  he  acquired  the  choice  collection 
of  (Jount  Reviczky,  a  Hungarian  nobleman, 
which  at  once  placed  his  library  among  the  more 
important  private  collections  of  the  time.  He 
also  bought  largely  at  the  Mason,  Herbert, 
Roxburghe,  Alchorne,  and  other  sales,  and  after 
the  dispersion  of  the  famous  library  at  White 
Knights  in  1 8 19  he  was  able  to  acquire,  at  a  cost 
of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  the  copy  of 
the  Valdarfer  Boccaccio  for  which  he  had  vainly 
bid  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
seven  years  before  at  the  Roxburghe  sale.  In 
the  years  18 19  and  1820  he  made  a  biblio- 
graphical tour  on  the  Continent,  during  which, 
among  other  purchases,  he  acquired  the  library 
of  the  Duke  of  Cassano-Serra,  which  contained 
some  very  rare  fifteenth  century  books. 

Lord  Spencer  was  considerably  assisted  in 
the  formation  of  his  famous  collection  by  his 
librarian,  the  well-known  Dr.  Thomas  Frognall 
Dibdin,  the  author  of  Bibliomania,  The  Biblio- 
graphical Decameron,  and  other  pleasant  and 
gossiping,  but  somewhat  verbose  and  not  par- 
ticularly accurate,  works  on  books,  their  printers 
and  owners.  Dibdin's  services  were  liberally 
rewarded ;  and  Edwards,  in  his  work  Libraries 
and  Founders  0/ Libraries,  states  that  in  addition 
to  his  stipend  as  librarian,  '  Lord  Spencer  insured 
his  librarian's  life  for  the  advantage  of  his  family. 


SECOND  EARL  SPENCER  311 

Lord  Spencer  also  gave  him  the  vicarage  of 
Exning,  in  Suffolk,  in  1823,  and  obtained  for 
him,  on  Episcopal  recommendation,  the  rectory 
of  St.  Mary,  Bryanstone  Square,  at  the  end  of 
the  same  year.'  Dibdin  was  the  first  to  suggest 
the  establishment  of  the  Roxburghe  Club,  of 
which  he  became  vice-president.  He  died  in 
1847. 

The  collection  at  Althorp,  which  Renouard 
described  as  '  the  most  beautiful  and  richest 
private  library  in  Europe,'  amounted  in  1892  to 
about  forty-one  thousand  five  hundred  volumes. 
Other  private  libraries  have  possessed  more 
books,  but  none  could  boast  of  choicer  ones.  It 
contained  the  earliest  dated  example  of  wood- 
engraving — the  figure  of  St.  Christopher,  with  the 
date  1423 ;  and  no  less  than  fourteen  block- 
books,  comprising  three  editions  of  the  Ars 
Moriendi,  three  of  the  Speculum  Humance  Salva- 
tionist two  of  the  Apocalypsis  S.  Johannis,  to- 
gether with  copies  of  the  Biblia  Pauperum,  Ars 
Memorandi,  Historia  Virginis  ex  Cantico  Canti- 
corum,  IVie  die  funfzehen  zaichen  kimen  vor 
dem  hingsten  tag,  the  Enndchrist,  and  Mirabilia 
Romce.  It  was  particularly  rich  in  Bibles,  among 
which  were  the  Gutenberg  and  Bamberg  Bibles, 
the  Coverdale  Bible  of  1535,  and  a  magnificent 
copy  of  the  Antwerp  Polyglot,  once  the  property 
of  De  Thou.  It  also  contained  the  first  and 
second  Mentz  Psalters.     The  Classics,  too,  were 


3i2         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

splendidly  represented.  The  editions  of  works 
by  Cicero  numbered  upwards  of  seventy,  about 
fifty  of  which  were  printed  before  1473 ;  while 
fifteen  of  those  of  Virgil  were  prior  to  the  year 
1476.  Among  these  were  the  second  edition 
by  Sweynheym  and  Pannartz,  most  probably 
printed  in  1471,  which  is  not  less  rare  than 
the  first,  and  the  famous  '  Adam '  edition, 
which  issued  from  the  press  in  that  year. 
These  two  volumes  were  obtained  from  the 
library  of  the  King  of  Wirtemberg,  Dibdin 
making  a  special  journey  to  Stuttgart  to  pur- 
chase them.  The  library  also  possessed  a  large 
number  of  the  early  editions  of  Dante,  Petrarch, 
Boccaccio,  and  other  Italian  Classics ;  and  no 
less  than  fifty-two  Caxtons,  three  of  them 
unique,  were  to  be  found  on  its  shelves.  A 
splendid  descriptive  catalogue  of  the  library, 
entitled  '  Bibliotheca  Spenceriana,'  was  compiled 
by  Dibdin  in  the  years  1814-23. 

Lord  Spencer  maintained  his  interest  in  his 
books  to  the  end  of  his  life,  and  in  the  year 
before  that  of  his  death  he  wrote  to  Dibdin,  '  I 
am  trying  my  hand  at  a  Classed  Catalogue.' 

In  August  1892  this  noble  collection  was 
purchased  by  Mrs.  Rylands,  widow  of  the  late 
Mr.  John  Rylands,  of  Longford  Hall,  near  Man- 
chester, for  a  sum  which  was  said  to  be  little  less 
than  a  quarter  of  a  million  sterling ;  and  on  the 
6th  of  October  1899  she  presented   it,  together 


SIR  RICHARD  COLT  HOARE  313 

with  a  handsome  building  for  its  reception,  to 
the  city  of  Manchester,  in  memory  of  her  husband. 
An  excellent  catalogue,  both  of  the  printed  books 
and  the  manuscripts,  in  three  handsome  quarto 
volumes,  compiled  by  Mr.  Gordon  Duff,  the 
librarian,  accompanied  this  munificent  gift. 


SIR  RICHARD  COLT  HOARE,  Bart., 
1758-1838 

Sir  Richard  Colt  Hoare,  Bart.,  the  historian 
of  Wiltshire,  was  born  on  the  9th  of  December 
1758.  He  was  the  son  of  Richard  Hoare, 
Esq.,  of  Barn  Elms,  Surrey  (who  was  created  a 
baronet  in  1786),  by  Anne,  second  daughter  of 
Henry  Hoare,  Esq.,  of  Stourhead,  Wiltshire,  and 
of  Susanna,  daughter  and  heiress  of  Stephen 
Colt,  Esq.  He  was  privately  educated,  and  at  an 
early  age  entered  the  family  bank  (Messrs.  Hoare's 
Bank,  Fleet  Street,  London).  In  his  work, 
Pedigrees  and  Memoirs  of  the  Families  of  H ore, 
etc.,  he  writes  : — '  Blessed  by  my  parents  with  the 
advantages  of  a  good  education,  I  thereby 
acquired  a  love  of  literature  and  of  drawing ;  of 
which,  in  my  more  advanced  years,  I  feel  the 
inestimable  advantage.  Destined,  as  I  imagined, 
for  an  active  and  commercial  life,  I  was  unex- 
pectedly and  agreeably  surprised  to  hear,  shortly 

2R 


3i4         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

after  my  marriage,  that  my  generous  grandfather 
had  intentions  to  remove  me  from  the  banking 
business,  and  to  settle  me  on  his  estate  in  Wilt- 
shire; which  he  put  into  execution  during  his 
life-time,  by  making  over  to  me  all  his  landed 
property,  with  their  appendages,  at  Stourhead 
and  in  the  adjoining  counties.'  In  1783  Hoare 
married  Hester,  only  daughter  of  Lord  Westcote, 
afterwards  created  Lord  Lyttelton,  who  died  in 
1785,  leaving  a  son  Henry  Richard.  In  1787, 
on  the  death  of  his  father,  he  succeeded  to  the 
baronetcy.  After  the  decease  of  his  wife  he  made 
an  extensive  tour  on  the  Continent,  visiting 
France,  Italy,  Switzerland  and  Spain.  In  1787 
he  returned  home,  but  in  the  following  year  he 
paid  a  second  visit  to  the  Continent,  and  did  not 
return  to  England  until  August  1791.  During 
these  tours  he  made  a  large  number  of  drawings 
of  interesting  objects,  and  '  for  the  gratification  of 
his  family  and  friends '  printed  an  account  of  his 
travels  in  four  volumes.  When  he  was  no  longer 
able  to  travel  on  the  Continent  in  consequence  of 
the  French  revolutionary  war,  Sir  R.  C.  Hoare 
made  a  tour  through  Wales,  taking  Giraldus 
Cambrensis  as  a  guide,  and  in  1806  he  published 
a  translation  of  the  Itinerarium  Cambria  of 
Giraldus  in  two  handsome  volumes.  He  also 
contributed  sixty-three  drawings  to  Archdeacon 
Coxe's  Historical  Tour  in  Monmouthshire ,  which 
appeared  in  1801.     In    1807   he  paid  a  visit   to 


SIR  RICHARD  COLT  HOARE  315 

Ireland,  and  printed  a  short  account  of  his 
excursion.  In  181 2  Hoare  published  in  London 
the  first  part  of  his  great  work,  the  Ancient 
History  of  Wiltshire,  which  he  completed  in 
two  volumes  in  1821.  This  was  followed 
by  the  Modern  History  of  Wiltshire  in  four- 
teen parts,  London,  1822-24,  which  was  left 
unfinished  at  the  time  of  his  death.  Hoare 
was  the  author  of  many  works  in  addition  to 
those  already  mentioned,  some  of  which  were 
intended  only  for  private  circulation.  A  list  of 
them  will  be  found  in  the  Catalogue  of  the  Hoare 
Library  at  Stourhead,  compiled  by  John  Bowyer 
Nichols  in  1840.  Hoare,  who  was  a  Fellow  of 
the  Royal  Society  and  of  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries, died  at  Stourhead  on  the  19th  of  May 
1838.  His  only  son  predeceased  him,  and  the 
baronetcy  and  estates  devolved  on  his  eldest 
half-brother,  Henry  Hugh  Hoare  of  Wavendon, 
Buckinghamshire. 

Sir  R.  C.  Hoare  possessed  a  noble  library  at 
Stourhead.  The  foundation  of  it  no  doubt  was 
laid  by  his  grandfather,  Henry  Hoare,  whose  book- 
plate occurs  on  many  of  the  volumes,  but  it  was  Sir 
R.  C.  Hoare  who  brought  together  the  magnificent 
collection  of  books  on  British  topography,  which 
was  probably  the  finest  private  one  ever  formed. 
The  water-colour  drawings,  the  books  of  prints, 
and  the  engravings  in  the  library  were  remarkable 
for  their  beauty,  and  had  been  selected  with  great 


3i6        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

judgment  and  taste.  During  his  travels  on  the 
Continent  between  the  years  1785  and  1791 
Hoare  acquired  a  large  number  of  books  relative 
to  the  history  and  topography  of  Italy.  Of  these 
he  printed  in  181 2  a  separate  catalogue,  the 
impression  of  which  was  limited  to  twelve  copies. 
In  1825  he  presented  this  collection  to  the  British 
Museum,  together  with  a  copy  of  the  catalogue, 
upon  the  fly-leaf  of  which  he  has  written  : — 
4  Anxious  to  follow  the  liberal  example  of  our 
gracious  monarch  George  the  Fourth, of  SirGeorge 
Beaumont,  Bart.,  of  Richd.  Payne  Knight,  Esq. 
(tho'  in  a  very  humble  degree)  I  do  give  unto  the 
British  Museum,  this  my  Collection  of  Topo- 
graphy, made  during  a  residence  of  five  years 
abroad — and  hoping  that  the  more  modern  publi- 
cations may  be  added  to  it  hereafter.  Rich  .  Colt 
Hoare,  a.d.  1825/  The  Stourhead  library  was 
sold  by  auction  on  Monday,  the  30th  of  July 
1883  and  seven  following  days,  by  Sotheby, 
Wilkinson  and  Hodge.  The  books,  engravings 
and  drawings,  of  which  there  were  one  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  seventy-one  lots,  realised  ten 
thousand  and  twenty-eight  pounds,  six  shillings 
and  sixpence.  On  the  9th  of  December  1887, 
and  three  following  days,  some  more  books  be- 
longing to  the  library  were  sold  for  one  thousand 
three  hundred  and  ninety-two  pounds,  eleven 
shillings  and  sixpence.  The  prices  obtained  for 
many  of  the  books  were  exceptionally  high. 


WILLIAM  BECKFORD  317 


WILLIAM  BECKFORD,  1 759-1844 

William  Beckford,  the  author  of  Vathek,  was 
born  at  Fonthill,  Wiltshire  on  the  29th  of 
September  1759.  He  was  the  only  legitimate 
child  of  Alderman  William  Beckford,  who  was 
twice  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  and  who  died  in 
1770,  leaving  his  son  property  worth  upwards  of 
one  hundred  thousand  pounds  a  year.  Beckford 
amassed  at  his  residence  at  Fonthill  a  magni- 
ficent collection  of  books,  pictures,  furniture  and 
curiosities  of  all  kinds,  but  his  extravagance  and 
the  depreciation  of  his  West  India  property 
compelled  him  in  1823  to  sell  Fonthill  and 
the  greater  part  of  its  contents.  He,  however, 
retained  a  portion  of  his  library  and  the  best  of 
his  pictures,  and  removed  them  to  Lansdown 
Tower,  Bath,  which  he  built  on  leaving  Fonthill, 
and  where  he  continued  to  add  to  his  collections. 
Beckford  married  in  1783  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Charles,  fourth  Earl  of  Aboyne,  by  whom  he  had 
two  daughters — Margaret  and  Susan  Euphemia — 
the  elder  of  whom  married  Colonel  Orde,  and  the 
younger  the  Marquis  of  Douglas,  who  afterwards 
became  Duke  of  Hamilton.  The  elder  daughter 
having  offended  her  father  by  her  marriage  with 
Colonel  Orde,  he  left  all  his  property  to  the 
Duchess  of  Hamilton.  After  Beckford's  death 
on   May  the  2nd,   1844,  tne  Duke  of  Hamilton 


3i8        ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

wished  to  sell  the  library  to  Mr.  Henry  Bohn, 
who  was  willing  to  give  thirty  thousand  pounds 
for  it,  but  the  Duchess  objected  to  part  with  her 
father's  books,  and  they  were  removed  to  Hamil- 
ton Palace,  but  kept  separate  from  the  noble 
library  which  already  existed  there.     In  the  years 


William  Beckfokd.     From  a  Medallion  by  Singleton. 

1882,  1883  and  1884  both  these  splendid  collec- 
tions were  sold.  The  sale,  or  rather  sales,  of  the 
Beckford  books,  for  the  collection  was  divided 
into  four  portions,  took  place  at  the  auction 
rooms  of  Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hodge,  and 
lasted  altogether  forty  days ;  the  first  sale  com- 
mencing on  the  30th  of  June  1882  and   lasting 


WILLIAM  BECKFORD  319 

twelve  days,  and  the  last  on  the  27th  of  November 
1883,  and  continuing  for  four  days.  The  total 
number  of  lots  in  the  four  sales  was  nine  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven,  and  the  amount 
realised  seventy-three  thousand  five  hundred  and 
fifty-one  pounds,  eighteen  shillings. 

Beckford's  library  was  rich  in  fine  early  printed 
books,  rare  voyages  and  travels,  and  choice 
French,  Spanish  and  Italian  works,  but  it  was 
chiefly  remarkable  for  its  superb  collection  of 
beautiful  and  historical  bindings.  It  contained  a 
large  number  of  volumes  from  the  libraries  of 
Grolier,  Maioli,  Lauwrin,  Canevari,  De  Thou, 
Peiresc,  and  other  distinguished  collectors,  and 
also  examples  of  bindings  bearing  the  arms  and 
devices  of  Francis  1.  of  France,  Henry  11.  and 
Diana  of  Poitiers,  Charles  ix.,  Henry  in.,  Henry 
iv.,  Louis  xni.,  Anne  of  Austria,  etc.;  many  of 
the  volumes  being  bound  by  Nicolas  and  Clovis 
Eve,  Le  Gascon,  Padeloup,  Derome,  Monnier 
and  other  famous  French  binders.  Very  high 
prices  were  obtained  for  many  of  these  splendid 
books — Lactantii  Opera,  printed  in  the  Monastery 
of  Subiaco  by  Sweynheym  and  Pannartz  in  1465, 
sold  for  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  pounds ; 
Biblia  Latina,  printed  on  vellum  by  N.  Jenson 
at  Venice  in  1476,  three  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds ;  Livre  de  Bien  Vivre,  on  vellum,  finely 
illuminated,  Paris,  A.  Verard,  1492,  three  hundred 
and  thirty  pounds ;  Philostrati  Vita  Apollonii 


320        ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Tyanei,  printed  by  Aldus  at  Venice  in  1502, 
Grolier's  copy,  bound  in  red  morocco,  three 
hundred  pounds  ;  Lucanus,  printed  by  Aldus  in 
1 515,  Grolier's  copy,  bound  in  marbled  calf,  two 
hundred  and  ninety  pounds  ;  Tirante  il  Bianco, 
Vinegia,  1538,  red  morocco,  from  the  library  of 
Demetrio  Canevari,  one  hundred  and  eleven 
pounds ;  Entree  de  Henry  IL  en  Paris  6/uing 
1549,  etc.,  with  the  arms  and  cypher  of  de  Thou 
on  the  binding,  four  hundred  and  seventy  pounds  ; 
Psalnwrum  Paraphrasis  Poetica,  by  G.  Buchanan, 
beautifully  bound  in  olive  morocco,  with  the  arms 
and  cypher  of  De  Thou,  three  hundred  and  ten 
pounds ;  Livre  de  la  Conqueste  de  la  Toison  dOr 
Par  le  Prince  Jason t  par  J.  Gohory,  Paris,  1563, 
in  a  beautiful  binding  by  Nicolas  Eve,  with  the 
arms  of  the  Duke  of  Guise  painted  on  the  covers, 
four  hundred  and  five  pounds  ;  Polipiiile  Hyp- 
nerotomachie,  Paris,  1561,  bound  in  blue  morocco 
by  Nicolas  Eve  for  Louise  de  Lorraine,  two 
hundred  and  twenty  pounds  ;  Portraits  des  Pois, 
Hommes  et  Dames  Illustres,  etc.,  a  series  of  the 
engraved  works  of  Sir  Anthony  Vandyck,  includ- 
ing his  own  etchings,  in  three  large  folio  volumes, 
two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  ; 
Decor  Puellarum,  printed  by  N.  Jenson  at  Venice 
in  1471,  in  a  splendid  binding  by  Monnier — blue 
morocco,  with  flowers  in  various  leathers,  and 
with  silk  linings,  five  hundred  and  thirty  pounds; 
and   Longi   Pastoralia,    printed    on   vellum    by 


EARL  OF  GUILFORD  321 

P.  Didot  at  Paris  for  Junot,  Duke  of  Abrantes, 
with  drawings  by  Prud'hon  and  F.  Gerard,  nine 
hundred  pounds. 

Beckford  wrote  other  works  besides  Vathek, 
several  of  which  he  left  in  manuscript,  and  a 
large  number  of  his  books  contained  notes  in  his 
handwriting. 


FREDERICK  NORTH,  FIFTH  EARL 
OF  GUILFORD,  1766-1827 

Frederick  North,  fifth  Earl  of  Guilford,  was 
born  on  the  7th  of  February  1766.  He  was  the 
third  and  youngest  son  of  Frederick,  second  Earl, 
Prime  Minister  from  January  1770  to  March 
1 782.  When  his  health,  which  was  very  delicate, 
permitted,  he  went  to  Eton,  and  afterwards  became 
a  student  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  He  was 
created  D.C.L.  in  1793,  and  received  the  same 
degree  by  diploma  in  18 19.  In  1779,  through  his 
father's  interest,  he  obtained  the  sinecure  of  one 
of  the  Chamberlains  of  the  Tally  Court  of  the 
Exchequer,  and  in  1794  he  was  appointed  to  the 
Comptrollership  of  the  Customs  of  the  Port  of 
London,  when  he  resigned  the  representation  of 
the  family  borough  of  Banbury,  to  which  he 
had  succeeded  when  his  eldest  brother,  George 
Augustus,  came  to  the  Earldom  in  1792.     North 

2  s 


322        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

was  Secretary  of  State  to  the  Viceroy  of  the 
Ionian  Islands  during  1795  and  1796,  and  in 
1798  he  was  made  Governor  of  Ceylon,  a  post 
he  held  until  July  1805.  On  the  death  of  his 
brother  Francis,  the  fourth  Earl,  in  18 17,  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  Harldom  of  Guilford,  and  in  1819 
he  was  created  a  Knight  Grand  Cross  of  the 
Order  of  St.  Michael  and  St.  George.  He  was  a 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  and  a  Member  of  the 
Eumelean  Club.  Lord  Guilford,  who  had  been 
received  into  the  Eastern  Church  at  Corfu  in  1791, 
died  unmarried  in  London  on  the  14th  of  October 
1827,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  cousin,  the  Rev. 
Francis  North,  Prebendary  of  Winchester  and 
Master  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  Cross.  Lord  Guil- 
ford was  a  distinguished  scholar,  and  a  most 
accomplished  linguist.  He  took  the  greatest 
interest  in  everything  relating  to  Greek  literature 
and  art,  and  it  was  principally  through  his  exer- 
tions, and  with  his  money,  that  a  University  was 
founded  in  1824  at  Corfu,  of  which  he  was  the 
first  chancellor,  and  in  which  he  resided  until 
1827,  when  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  England 
on  account  of  his  health.  He  left  his  collections 
of  printed  books,  manuscripts,  etc.,  at  Corfu  to 
the  University,  but  in  consequence  of  its  failure 
to  comply  with  certain  conditions  which  accom- 
panied the  bequest,  it  was  not  carried  out.  Lord 
Guilford's  fine  library  was  sold  by  Evans,  in 
seven  parts,  in  the  years  1828,  1829,  1830,  and 


EARL  OF  GUILFORD  323 

1835.  The  first  sale  took  place  on  December  15th, 
1828,  and  eight  following  days;  and  the  others 
on  January  12th,  1829,  and  five  following  days ; 
February  28th,  1829,  and  two  following  days; 
December  8th,  1830,  and  four  following  days; 
December  20th,  1830,  and  four  following  days; 
January  5th,  1831,  and  three  following  days ;  and 
November  9th,  1835,  and  seven  following  days. 
The  last  three  sales  were  of  the  manuscripts  and 
books  removed  from  Corfu.  There  were  eight 
thousand  five  hundred  and  eleven  lots  in  the 
seven  sales,  which  realised  twelve  thousand  one 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  pounds,  ten  shillings 
and  sixpence. 

Lord  Guilford's  collection  was  an  excellent 
one,  and,  as  might  be  expected,  the  Greek  manu- 
scripts in  it  were  particularly  numerous  and 
choice.  The  printed  books  were  good,  but  they 
were  not  equal  to  the  manuscripts  either  in 
interest  or  value.  Among  the  latter  was  the 
original  manuscript  of  Tasso's  Gerusalemme 
Liberata,  with  some  alterations  of  verses  in  the 
margin,  likewise  in  the  handwriting  of  Tasso. 
This  sold  for  two  hundred  and  four  pounds, 
fifteen  shillings.  Four  Greek  manuscripts  of  the 
eleventh  century :  a  copy  of  the  Four  Gospels ; 
the  Greek  Offices,  with  Intonations  or  Musical 
Directions  for  Chanting;  an  Evangel istarium 
and  Menologium  of  the  Greek  Church ;  and 
Josephus's  Historia  de  Bello  Judaico,  deserve 


324        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

special  notice  on  account  of  their  beauty  and 
rarity.  These  fetched  at  the  sale  respectively  one 
hundred  and  two  pounds,  eighteen  shillings ;  one 
hundred  and  seventy-three  pounds,  five  shillings ; 
seventy-three  pounds,  ten  shillings ;  and  two 
hundred  and  seventy-three  pounds.  Another 
interesting  manuscript  was  a  copy  of  the 
New  Testament  in  Glagolitic  characters,  which 
realised  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  pounds. 
Among  the  printed  books  may  be  mentioned  a 
large  paper  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  the  Sixtine 
Bible,  printed  at  Rome  in  1590,  and  suppressed 
by  order  of  Gregory  xiv.,  on  account  of  the 
numerous  inaccuracies  in  it,  which  realised  sixty- 
three  pounds ;  and  the  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land's Cmicio  ad  Populum  Londinensem%  printed 
at  Rome  in  1570,  of  which  the  only  other  known 
copy  is  in  the  library  of  the  Vatican,  for  which 
forty- two  pounds  was  obtained. 


GEORGE  SPENCER  CHURCHILL, 
FIFTH  DUKE  OF  MARLBOROUGH, 

1 766- 1 840 

George  Spencer  Churchill,  fifth  Duke  of 
Marlborough,  the  collector  of  the  famous  library 
at  White  Knights,  near  Reading,  Berkshire,  was 
the  elder  son  of  George,  fourth  Duke  of  Marl- 


DUKE  OF  MARLBOROUGH  325 

borough,  by  Caroline,  only  daughter  of  John, 
fourth  Duke  of  Bedford.  He  was  born  on  the 
6th  of  March  1766,  and  was  educated  at  Eton, 
and  subsequently  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford, 
graduating  M.A.  in  1786  and  D.C.L.  in  1792. 
At  the  general  election  in  1790  he  was  returned 
to  Parliament  as  one  of  the  members  for  Oxford- 
shire, and  in  August  1804  he  was  appointed  a 
Lord  of  the  Treasury,  which  office  he  held  until 
February  1806.  On  the  12th  of  March  in  the 
same  year  he  was  called  to  the  House  of  Lords 
as  Baron  Spencer  of  Wormleighton,  and  on  the 
death  of  his  father  on  the  29th  of  January  18 17 
he  succeeded  to  the  dukedom.  In  the  May 
following  he  was  authorised  to  take  and  use  the 
name  of  Churchill  after  that  of  Spencer,  and  to 
bear  the  arms  of  Churchill  quarterly  with  those 
of  Spencer,  in  order  to  perpetuate  in  his  family 
the  surname  of  his  celebrated  ancestor,  John,  first 
Duke  of  Marlborough.  He  married,  on  the  15th 
of  September  1791,  Susan,  second  daughter  of 
John,  seventh  Earl  of  Galloway,  by  whom  he 
had  issue  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  He  died 
on  the  5th  of  March  1840,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  eldest  son,  George. 

The  splendid  library  which  the  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough, while  Marquis  of  Blandford,  collected 
at  White  Knights  was  one  of  the  finest  in  the 
kingdom.  Its  two  great  treasures  were  the 
Bedford    Book  of    Hours,    now   in   the   British 


326         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Museum,  purchased  by  the  Duke  in  1815  at 
the  sale  of  the  library  of  James  Edwards, 
for  the  sum  of  six  hundred  and  ninety-eight 
pounds,  five  shillings ;  and  the  edition  of  Boc- 
caccio's Decameron,  printed  by  Valdarfer  at 
Venice  in  147 1 ,  which  he  acquired  at  the  Duke 
of  Roxburghe's  sale  in  181 2,  after  a  spirited 
contest  with  his  relative,  Earl  Spencer,  at  the 
enormous  price  of  two  thousand  two  hundred 
and  sixty  pounds.  This  copy,  Edward  Edwards 
tells  us  {Libraries  and  Founders  of  Libraries), 
had  been  offered  to  Lord  Sunderland  for  a 
hundred  guineas  just  a  century  before  one  of  his 
great-grandsons  offered  more  than  two  thousand 
guineas  for  it,  and  was  outbidden  by  another. 
Among  many  other  choice  manuscripts  and  rare 
books  the  library  contained  a  beautiful  Missal, 
said  to  have  been  executed  for  Diana  of  Poitiers  ; 
no  fewer  than  eighteen  Caxtons ;  the  Bokys  of 
Hawkyng  and  Huntyng,  printed  at  St.  Albans  in 
i486 ;  a  large  number  of  very  rare  books  from  the 
presses  of  Machlinia,  Pynson,  Wynkyn  de  Worde, 
and  other  early  English  printers ;  a  copy  on 
vellum  of  the  first  edition  of  Luther's  translation 
of  the  Bible  after  his  final  revision ;  a  collection 
of  Churchyard's  Works  in  two  volumes ;  many  of 
the  early  editions  of  Shakespeare's  plays,  together 
with  the  first  edition  of  his  Sonnets  ;  and  Ireland's 
account  of  the  Shakesperian  Forgery,  in  his  own 
handwriting.     The  collection  was  especially  rich  in 


DUKE  OF  MARLBOROUGH  327 

missals,  books  of  emblems,  and  Italian,  Spanish, 
and  French  romances  of  chivalry,  poetry,  and 
facetiae. 

The  extravagance  of  the  Duke  compelled  him 
to  dispose  of  his  magnificent  collection  during 
his  lifetime,  and  it  was  sold  in  two  parts  by 
Mr.  Evans  at  26  Pall  Mall.  The  sale,  which 
consisted  of  four  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
one  lots,  commenced  on  the  7th  of  June  1819  and 
lasted  till  the  3rd  of  July  following.  It  realised 
but  fourteen  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty- 
two  pounds,  ten  shillings  and  sixpence,  a  much 
less  sum  than  that  paid  for  the  books  by  the 
Duke.  The  Valdarfer  Boccaccio  sold  for  nine 
hundred  and  eighteen  pounds,  fifteen  shillings, 
and  the  Caxtons  fetched  one  thousand  three 
hundred  and  sixteen  pounds,  twelve  shillings  and 
sixpence ;  the  highest  prices  being  obtained  for 
Gower's  Confessio  A  mantis,  and  Chaucer's  Troylus 
and  Creside,  which  realised  two  hundred  and 
five  pounds,  sixteen  shillings,  and  one  hundred 
and  sixty-two  pounds,  fifteen  shillings.  The 
Book  of  St.  Albans,  which  was  imperfect,  fetched 
eighty-four  pounds ;  Luther's  translation  of  the 
Bible,  two  hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  ten  shil- 
lings ;  Churchyard's  Works,  eighty-five  pounds, 
one  shilling;  and  Shakespeare's  Sonnets,  thirty- 
seven  pounds.  The  Missal  said  to  have  been 
written  for  Diana  of  Poitiers  sold  for  one 
hundred  and  ten  pounds,  five  shillings. 


328         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

ALEXANDER,  TENTH  DUKE  OF 
HAMILTON,  1767-1852 

A  good  library  had  no  doubt  existed  in  Hamilton 
Palace  for  a  considerable  period  of  time,  but 
Alexander,  tenth  Duke  of  Hamilton,  who  was 
born  on  the  5th  of  October  1767,  and  died  on  the 
1 8th  of  August  1852,  was  the  first  of  his  line 
who  was  a  book-collector  on  an  extensive  scale. 
He  formed  a  large  and  very  choice  collection 
of  printed  books,  but  that  of  his  manuscripts 
was  of  still  greater  interest  and  value.  It  was 
wonderfully  rich  in  Bibles  and  portions  of 
the  Scriptures,  Missals,  Breviaries  and  Books 
of  Hours,  many  of  them  having  been  written 
and  illuminated  for  Francis  1.,  King  of  France, 
the  Emperor  Maximilian,  Pope  Leo  x.,  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  and  other  distinguished  per- 
sonages. The  finest  of  these  was  a  copy  of 
the  Gospels  in  Latin,  known  as  'The  Golden 
Gospels,'  written  about  the  end  of  the  eighth 
century  in  gold  letters  upon  purple  vellum,  which 
was  at  one  time  the  property  of  King  Henry  vm. 
Another  famous  manuscript  in  the  library,  valued 
at  five  thousand  pounds,  was  the  Divina  Com- 
media  of  Dante,  illustrated  with  upwards  of 
eighty  original  designs  attributed  to  Sandro 
Botticelli,  now  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Berlin. 
In  addition  to  his  own  books,  the  Duke  ac- 


DUKE  OF  HAMILTON  329 

quired  the  whole  of  William  Beckford's  splendid 
collection  by  his  marriage  with  Beckford's 
daughter  Susan  Euphemia.  William,  the  eleventh 
Duke,  who  was  born  on  February  the  19th, 
181 1,  and  died  on  July  the  15th,  1863,  added 
considerably  to  the  library,  but  his  successor  was 
reluctantly  obliged  to  part  with  it,  and  it  was 
advertised  to  be  sold  by  auction  on  June  30th, 
1882.  Before,  however,  the  time  appointed  for 
the  sale,  the  Royal  Museum  at  Berlin,  by  a 
private  arrangement,  acquired  the  whole  of  the 
manuscripts  for  a  sum  which  is  believed  to  have 
amounted  to  about  seventy-five  thousand  pounds, 
and  they  were  divided  between  that  Institution 
and  the  Royal  Library  at  Berlin.  A  portion  of 
them,  which  related  to  Scottish  history,  was 
purchased  of  the  Prussian  authorities  by  the 
British  Museum ;  and  ninety-one  other  manu- 
scripts which  were  not  required  by  the  Berlin 
Museum,  including  the  '  Golden  Gospels,'  were 
sent  to  Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hodge,  by 
whom  they  were  sold  on  the  23rd  of  May  1889 
for  fifteen  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine 
pounds,  ten  shillings  and  sixpence.  The  '  Golden 
Gospels'  was  bought  by  Mr.  Quaritch  for  one 
thousand  five  hundred  pounds.  The  printed 
books  were  sold  by  the  same  auctioneers  on 
May  1st,  1884,  and  seven  following  days.  The 
sale  consisted  of  two  thousand  one  hundred  and 
thirty-six  lots,  and  realised  twelve  thousand  eight 

2T 


330        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

hundred  and  ninety-two  pounds,  twelve  shillings 
and  sixpence.  The  following  are  a  few  of  trie 
rarest  and  most  interesting  books,  and  the  prices 
they  fetched — Boecius  de  Consolatione  Philosophic, 
printed  by  Caxton  in  1477-78,  one  hundred  and 
sixty  pounds ;  Dante's  Commedia,  printed  at 
Florence  in  1481,  with  twenty  engravings  by 
Baccio  Baldini,  three  hundred  and  eighty  pounds; 
the  Poems  of  Pindar  in  Greek,  printed  by  Aldus 
in  1513,  with  the  arms  of  France  and  the  mono- 
gram and  devices  of  Henry  11.  and  Diana  of 
Poitiers  on  the  binding,  one  hundred  and  forty- 
one  pounds ;  the  Prince  of  Condd's  copy  of 
LHystoire  dn  Roy  Perceforest,  Paris,  1528,  with 
his  arms  on  the  covers,  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
pounds ;  a  dedication  copy,  printed  upon  vellum, 
and  bound  for  James  v.,  King  of  Scotland,  of 
Hector  Boece's  History  and  Croniklis,  translated 
by  Bellenden,  and  printed  at  Edinburgh  in  1536, 
the  binding  having  on  the  upper  cover  iacobvs 
qvintvs,  and  on  the  lower  rex  scotorvm,  eight 
hundred  pounds ;  a  Collection  of  Architectural 
Designs,  executed  with  pen  and  ink  by  J. 
Androuet  du  Cerceau,  in  a  beautiful  binding 
attributed  to  Clovis  Eve,  two  hundred  and  forty 
pounds ;  De  Bry's  Collectiones  Peregrinationum, 
in  eleven  volumes,  bound  in  blue  morocco  by 
Derome,  five  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  ;  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  1637,  f°no — King  Charles  i.'s 
copy,  with  numerous  alterations  in  his  own  hand- 


SIR  MARK  MASTERMAN  SYKES       331 

writing  which  were  used  in  printing  the  Scottish 
Prayer-book  of  the  same  year,  usually  termed 
Laud's  Book.  Prefixed  to  the  Order  for  Morning 
Prayer  the  King  has  written  :  '  Charles  R. — I  gave 
the  Archbp.  of  Canterbury  comand  to  make  the 
alteracons  expressed  in  this  Book  and  to  fit  a 
Liturgy  for  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  where- 
soever they  shall  differ  from  another  Booke 
signed  by  us  at  Hamp*.  Court  Septembr.  28,  1634, 
our  pleasure  is  to  have  these  followed  rather  than 
the  former ;  unless  the  Archbp.  of  St.  Andrews 
and  his  Brethren  who  are  upon  the  place  shall 
see  apparent  reason  to  the  contrary.  At  White- 
hall, April  19,  1636' — one  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  pounds. 

The  paintings  and  objects  of  art  belonging  to 
the  Duke  of  Hamilton  were  sold  in  July  1882, 
and  realised  three  hundred  and  ninety-seven 
thousand  pounds. 


SIR  MARK  MASTERMAN  SYKES, 
Bart.,  1 771 -1823 

Sir  Mark  Masterman  Sykes,  Bart.,  was  the 
eldest  son  of  Sir  Christopher  Sykes,  second 
baronet,  of  Sledmere,  Yorkshire.  He  was  born 
on  the  20th  of  August  1771,  and  in  his  seven- 
teenth   year    was    sent    to    Brasenose    College, 


332         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Oxford.  In  1795  he  served  the  office  of  High 
Sheriff  of  Yorkshire,  and  on  the  death  of  hi^ 
father  in  1801  he  succeeded  to  the  title  and 
estates.  He  was  elected  Member  of  Parliament 
for  the  city  of  York  in  1807  ;  was  again  returned 
in  181 2  and  18 13,  and  retired  on  account  of  ill 
health  in  1820.  Sir  M.  Masterman  Sykes  was 
twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Henrietta, 
daughter  and  heiress  of  Henry  Masterman  of 
Settrington,  Yorkshire,  and  on  his  union  with 
her  in  1795  he  assumed  the  additional  name  of 
Masterman.  She  died  in  1813,  and  in  the 
following  year  he  married  Mary  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  William  Tatton  Egerton,  and  sister 
of  Wilbraham  Tatton  Egerton,  of  Tatton  Park, 
who  survived  him.  Sir  Mark  died  at  Weymouth, 
on  his  way  to  London,  on  the  16th  of  February 
1823.  He  had  no  children,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  brother,  Sir  Tatton  Sykes. 

Sir  M.  Masterman  Sykes  early  developed  a 
love  for  books,  and  the  magnificent  library  which 
he  formed,  one  of  the  finest  private  collections 
in  England,  was  the  result  of  upwards  of  thirty 
years'  unremitting  and  careful  work.  Some  of 
the  rare  volumes  it  contained,  we  are  informed  in 
the  preface  to  the  sale  catalogue  of  his  library 
written  by  the  Rev.  H.  J.  Todd,  'were  procured 
during  the  collector's  travels  abroad,  but  many  of 
them  were  acquired  at  the  dispersion  of  the 
libraries  of  Major  Pearson,  Dr.  Farmer,  Steevens, 


SIR  MARK  MASTERMAN  SYKES       333 

Reed,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brand,  the  Duke  of  Rox- 
burghe  and  others,  but  especially  of  that  of  the 
late  Mr.  Edwards,  from  whom  the  celebrated 
Livy  of  1469  was  obtained — the  only  known  copy 
of  the  first  edition  of  Livy  on  vellum.' 

Among  the  principal  treasures  of  the  collection 
were  the  Gutenberg  Bible;  the  Psalter  of  1459, 
on  vellum ;  the  Rationale  Divinorum  Officiorum 
of  Durandus,  on  vellum,  1459;  the  Catholicon  of 
Joannes  Balbus  de  Janua,  1460;  the  Latin  Bible 
of  1462,  on  vellum ;  and  the  Epistles  of  St. 
Jerome,  on  vellum,  1470:  all  printed  at  Mentz. 

The  library  was  especially  rich  in  early 
editions  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Classics,  and  on 
its  shelves  were  to  be  found  the  only  copy  known 
to  exist  on  vellum  of  the  first  edition  of  Livy, 
printed  at  Rome  by  Sweynheym  and  Pannartz 
about  1469,  to  which  we  have  already  referred ; 
the  first  edition  of  Pliny,  printed  by  Joannes  de 
Spira  at  Venice  in  1469;  that  printed  at  Rome 
by  Sweynheym  and  Pannartz  in  1470  ;  a  copy  on 
vellum  of  the  beautiful  1472  edition  from  the 
press  of  Nicolas  Jenson  of  Venice  ;  and  the  earliest 
editions  of  Homer,  Cicero,  Horace,  Virgil,  Tacitus, 
Terence,  and  Valerius  Maximus. 

The  library  also  contained  the  Dante  printed 
at  Foligno  in  1472,  and  that  printed  at  Florence 
in  1 48 1  ;  the  first  issue  of  the  Latin  trans- 
lation of  the  Letter  of  Columbus,  printed  at 
Rome   in    1493 ;    a   fine   copy  of   the  Poliphili 


334        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Hypnerotomachia,  printed  by  Aldus  at  Venice  in 
1499;  the  Aldine  Petrarch  of  1501  ;  several  rare 
Missals  and  Books  of  Hours,  the  most  notable  of 
them  being  a  vellum  copy  of  the  Vallombrosa 
Missal,  printed  at  Florence  in  1503  ;  and  a  copy 
of  the  Tewrdannck,  also  on  vellum,  printed  at 
Nuremberg  in  151 7. 

There  were  several  Caxtons,  among  them 
being  The  Myrrour  of  the  IVorld  and  Higden's 
Poly  chron  icon. 

The  literature  of  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and 
James  1.  was  well  represented,  and  the  library 
contained  a  copy  of  that  rare  work,  Archbishop 
Parker's  De  Antiquitate  Ecclesice  Britannicce. 

The  collection  also  comprised  several  fine 
and  interesting  manuscripts.  Deserving  especial 
notice  were  a  beautiful  illuminated  Office,  on 
vellum,  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  executed  for  Francis  1., 
King  of  France ;  the  original  Report  of  Con- 
vocation to  Henry  vm.  on  the  Legality  of  his 
proposed  Divorce  from  Anne  of  Cleves,  sub- 
scribed with  the  autograph  signatures  of  the 
Archbishop  and  all  the  Bishops  and  Clergy 
assembled  in  Convocation,  dated  July  9th,  1540; 
and  an  autograph  manuscript  of  Dugdale's 
Visitation  of  the  County  of  York  in  1665-66. 

SirM.  Masterman  Sykes  possessed  an  immense 
collection  of  prints.  It  included  a  complete  set 
of  Bartolozzi's  engravings  which  is  said  to  have 
cost  Sir  Mark  nearly  five  thousand  pounds ;  his 


SIR  MARK  MASTERMAN  SYKES       335 

collection  of  portraits  was  considered  to  be  one  of 
the  best  in  the  kingdom ;  and  Dibdin  declared 
that  his  '  Faithornes  and  Hollars  almost  defied 
competition.'  He  also  accumulated  a  considerable 
number  of  pictures,  bronzes,  coins  and  medals. 

All  the  collections  were  dispersed  by  sale 
in  1824.  The  books  were  sold  by  Mr.  Evans 
of  Pall  Mall  in  three  parts,  commencing  on  the 
nth  of  May  and  continuing  until  the  28th  of 
June.  The  total  amount  realised  was  eighteen 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-nine  pounds, 
sixteen  shillings.  The  prices  obtained  were  by 
no  means  high.  The  Gutenberg  Bible,  which 
was  a  very  fine  one,  fetched  less  than  two  hundred 
pounds,  and  the  copy  of  the  Mentz  Psalter,  for 
which  Mr.  Quaritch  subsequently  gave  four 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  at  Sir  J. 
H.  Thorold's  sale  in  1884,  sold  for  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  pounds,  ten  shillings.  The  Latin 
Bible  of  1462  was  disposed  of  for  the  same  sum  ; 
and  the  unique  vellum  Livy,  which  cost  Sir 
Mark  nine  hundred  and  three  pounds  at  the  sale 
of  Mr.  Edwards's  books  in  18 15,  realised  but  four 
hundred  and  seventy-two  pounds,  ten  shillings. 
This  volume  was  bought  by  Messrs.  Payne  and 
Foss,  who  sold  it  to  Mr.  John  Dent,  and  at  the 
sale  of  his  collection  in  1827  it  was  acquired  for 
two  hundred  and  sixty-two  pounds,  ten  shillings 
by  the  Right  Hon.  Thomas  Grenville,  who 
bequeathed  it  to  the  British  Museum  in  1846. 


336         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

The  three  manuscripts  mentioned — The  Office  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  the  Report  of  Convocation  on 
Henry  viii.'s  divorce  from  Anne  of  Cleves,  and 
Dugaale's  Visitation  of  the  County  of  York — 
fetched  respectively  one  hundred  and  sixty-three 
pounds,  sixteen  shillings ;  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  pounds,  five  shillings ;  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  pounds,  ten  shillings. 

Sir  M.  Masterman  Sykes  was  one  of  the 
original  members  of  the  Roxburghe  Club,  and 
in  1818  printed  for  presentation  to  the  members 
a  portion  of  Lydgate's  Poems.  He  was  the 
1  Lorenzo  '  of  Dibdin,  who  describes  him  as  '  not 
less  known  than  respected  for  the  suavity  of  his 
manners,  the  kindness  of  his  disposition,  and 
the  liberality  of  his  conduct  in  all  matters  con- 
nected with  books  and  prints.' 


RICHARD  HEBER,   1773-1833 

Richard  Heber,  styled  by  Sir  Walter  Scott 
1  Heber  the  Magnificent,  whose  library  and  cellar 
are  so  superior  to  all  others  in  the  world,'  was 
the  eldest  son  of  Reginald  Heber,  lord  of  the 
manors  of  Marton  in  Yorkshire,  and  Hodnet  in 
Shropshire,  and  was  half-brother  to  Reginald 
Heber,  Bishop  of  Calcutta.  He  was  born  in 
Westminster  on  the  5th  of  January  1773,  and 
was  first  educated  under  the  private  tuition  of 


RICHARD  HEBER  337 

the  Rev.  George  Henry  Glasse ;  afterwards  pro- 
ceeding to  Brasenose  College,  Oxford,  where  he 
graduated  B.A.  in  1796,  and  M.A.  in  the  follow- 
ing year.  In  1822  the  University  conferred  on 
him  the  degree  of  D.C.L.  On  the  death  of  his 
father  in  1804,  Heber  succeeded  to  the  estates  in 
Yorkshire  and  Shropshire,  which  he  considerably 
augmented  and  improved.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Athenaeum  Club,  and  in  1821  he 
was  elected  a  representative  in  Parliament  for  the 
University  of  Oxford,  but  resigned  his  seat  in 
1826.  From  his  earliest  years  he  was  an  ardent 
collector,  and  Dibdin  says  that  he  had  seen  a 
catalogue  of  Heber's  books,  compiled  by  him  at 
the  age  of  eight;  and  when  ten  years  old  he 
requested  his  father  to  buy  some  volumes  at  a 
certain  sale,  where  '  there  would  be  the  best 
editions  of  the  classics.'  Of  many  of  his  books 
he  possessed  several  copies,  and  on  being  asked 
by  a  friend  why  he  purchased  them,  he  seriously 
replied :  '  Why,  you  see,  Sir,  no  man  can  com- 
fortably do  without  three  copies  of  a  book.  One 
he  must  have  for  his  show  copy,  and  he  will 
probably  keep  it  at  his  country  house.  Another 
he  will  require  for  his  own  use  and  reference ; 
and  unless  he  is  inclined  to  part  with  this,  which 
is  very  inconvenient,  or  risk  the  injury  of  his 
best  copy,  he  must  needs  have  a  third  at  the 
service  of  his  friends.'  Soon  after  the  peace  of 
181 5  Heber   paid   a  visit  to   the  Continent   to 

2U 


338         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

collect  books  for  his  library,  and  in  1825  he 
again  left  England  for  a  considerable  period  for 
the  purpose  of  still  further  adding  to  his  literary 
stores.  On  his  return  in  1831  he  spent  his  time 
in  seclusion  between  his  country  residence  at 
Hodnet,  near  Shrewsbury,  and  his  house  at 
Pimlico,  devoting  himself  to  the  last  days  of  his 
life  to  the  increase  of  his  immense  collection. 
He  died  at  Pimlico  of  an  attack  on  the  lungs, 
accompanied  with  jaundice,  on  the  4th  of  October 
1833,  and  was  buried  at  Hodnet  on  the  16th  of 
the  following  month.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Dyce  in  a 
letter  to  Sir  Egerton  Brydges,  gives  a  melancholy 
account  of  his  end.  '  Poor  man,'  he  writes,  '  he 
expired  at  Pimlico,  in  the  midst  of  his  rare 
property,  without  a  friend  to  close  his  eyes,  and 
from  all  I  have  heard  I  am  led  to  believe  he  died 
broken-hearted :  he  had  been  ailing  for  some 
time,  but  took  no  care  of  himself,  and  seemed 
indeed  to  court  death.  Yet  his  ruling  passion 
was  strong  to  the  last.  The  morning  he  died  he 
wrote  out  some  memoranda  for  Thorpe  about 
books  which  he  wished  to  be  purchased  for  him. 
He  was  the  most  liberal  of  book-collectors :  I 
never  asked  him  for  the  loan  of  a  volume,  which 
he  could  lay  his  hand  on,  he  did  not  immediately 
send  me.'1  Heber,  who  was  a  man  of  deep 
learning,  numbered  among  his  friends  Porson, 
Cracherode,  Canning,  Southey,  Dr.  Burney,  Sir 

1  The  Book  Fancier.    By  Percy  Fitzgerald  (London,  1887),  p.  230. 


RICHARD  HEBER  339 

Walter  Scott,  and  many  other  distinguished 
persons.  Sir  Walter  dedicated  the  sixth  canto 
of  Marmion  to  him,  and  alludes  to  his  library  in 
the  following  lines  : — 

'  Thy  volumes,  open  as  thy  heart, 
Delight,  amusement,  science,  art, 
To  every  ear  and  eye  impart ; 
Yet  who,  of  all  who  thus  employ  them, 
Can  like  the  owner's  self  enjoy  them  ? — 
But,  hark  !     I  hear  the  distant  drum  ! 
The  day  of  Flodden  Field  is  come. — 
Adieu,  dear  Heber !     Life  and  health, 
And  store  of  literary  wealth.' 

The  number  of  volumes  accumulated  by  Heber 
was  enormous.  He  collected  manuscripts  as  well 
as  printed  books.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he 
possessed  eight  houses  overflowing  with  books. 
At  Hodnet  he  had  built  a  new  library  which  he 
is  said  to  have  filled  with  volumes  selected  on 
account  of  their  fine  condition ;  and  so  careful 
was  he  of  these,  that  occasionally  he  used  to 
engage  the  whole  of  the  inside  places  of  the 
coach  for  their  conveyance  from  London.  The 
walls  of  all  the  rooms  and  passages  of  his  house 
at  Pimlico  were  lined  with  books;  and  another 
house  in  York  Street,  Westminster,  which  he 
used  as  a  depository  for  newly  purchased  books, 
was  literally  crammed  with  them  from  the  floors 
to  the  ceilings.  He  had  a  library  in  the  High 
Street,  Oxford ;  an  immense  collection  at  Paris, 
which    was    sold    in    the   years    1834   to    1836; 


340         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

another  at  Ghent,  sold  in  1835;  and  others 
at  Brussels  and  Antwerp,  together  with  smaller 
gatherings  in  several  places  on  the  Continent. 
Dibdin  estimated  the  total  number  of  volumes  in 
Heber's  collections  in  England  at  one  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  thousand  five  hundred,  but 
other  calculations  have  placed  it  at  a  somewhat 
lower  figure.  The  whole  of  the  libraries  which 
he  possessed  in  England  and  on  the  Continent 
probably  contained  from  one  hundred  and  forty- 
five  thousand  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
volumes,  as  well  as  a  very  large  number  of 
pamphlets ;  and  they  are  believed  to  have  cost 
him  about  a  hundred  thousand  pounds.  As 
Heber  was  an  accomplished  scholar  as  well  as 
a  collector,  his  books  were  chosen  with  ability 
and  judgment.  He  was  a  purchaser  at  every 
great  sale,  and  so  keen  was  he  in  the  prosecution 
of  his  favourite  pursuit,  that  on  hearing  of  a  rare 
book  he  has  been  known  to  undertake  a  coach 
journey  of  several  hundred  miles  to  obtain  it. 
His  library  was  particularly  rich  in  the  works  of 
the  early  English  poets,  and  his  collection  of 
Greek  and  Latin  Classics,  Spanish,  Italian, 
Portuguese  and  French  books  was  very  exten- 
sive and  choice,  but  he  had  a  great  objection  to 
large  paper  copies,  because  they  occupied  so 
much  room  on  his  shelves.  He  possessed  also 
a  number  of  books  printed  in  Mexico ;  and 
among   his  manuscripts  were   to  be   found   the 


RICHARD  HEBER  341 

letters  and  papers  of  Sir  Julius  Caesar,  the  auto- 
graph manuscript  of  The  Monastery,  by  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  and  a  large  collection  of  the  letters 
of  distinguished  men.  For  a  considerable  period 
his  will  could  not  be  found,  although  diligent 
search  was  made  for  it,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
and  his  sister,  Mrs.  Cholmondeley,  was  on  the 
point  of  taking  out  letters  of  administration, 
when  it  was  accidentally  discovered  by  Dr.  Dibdin 
among  some  books  on  an  upper  shelf  at  Pimlico. 
As  it  did  not  contain  any  directions  as  to  the 
disposal  of  his  books,  those  in  England,  together 
with  some  brought  from  Holland,  were  sold  by 
Sotheby  and  Son,  Evans,  and  Wheatley  at  a  series 
of  sales  extending  over  four  years,  and  realised 
fifty-seven  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty-four 
pounds,  twelve  shillings.  The  catalogue  is  in 
thirteen  parts,  bearing  the  dates  1834-37.  His 
books  on  the  Continent,  with  the  drawings  and 
coins,  fetched  about  ten  thousand  pounds  more. 

Heber  edited  the  works  of  Persius  Flaccus, 
Silius  Italicus,  and  Claudianus.  He  also  re- 
printed the  Call  ha  Poetarum,  or  the  Bumble  Bee, 
of  T.  Cutwode,  from  the  edition  of  1599,  for  the 
Roxburghe  Club,  and  assisted  in  the  preparation 
of  the  third  edition  of  Ellis's  Specimens  of  tlte 
Early  English  Poets. 


342        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 


RICHARD  GRENVILLE,  FIRST  DUKE 
OF  BUCKINGHAM,   1776-1839 

Richard  Temple  Nugent  Brydges  Chandos 
Grenville,  first  Duke  of  Buckingham,  was  born 
in  London  on  the  20th  of  March  1776.  He  was 
the  eldest  son  of  George  Grenville,  Earl  Temple, 
who  was  made  Marquis  of  Buckingham  in  1784. 
He  began  collecting  books  at  a  very  early  age, 
and  in  1798  had  already  commenced  the  forma- 
tion of  a  library  at  Stowe ;  and  the  acquisition  of 
the  manuscripts  and  papers  of  Thomas  Astle, 
Keeper  of  the  Records  in  the  Tower;  the  Irish 
manuscripts  from  Belanagare,  the  seat  of  The 
O'Conor  Don  ;  the  State  Papers  of  Arthur  Capel, 
Earl  of  Essex,  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  11.,  together  with  some  other 
purchases,  placed  his  library  among  the  finest 
private  collections  in  the  kingdom.1  On  the 
death  of  his  father  in  181 3  he  succeeded  to  the 
title,  and  nine  years  later  he  was  created  Duke 
of  Buckingham  and  Chandos.  In  1827,  in  con- 
sequence of  his  great  expenditure  on  his  various 
collections,  and  the  munificence  with  which  he 
had  entertained  the  royal  family  of  France,  he 
found  himself  in  embarrassed  circumstances,  and 

1  A  descriptive  catalogue  of  the  manuscripts  in  the  Stowe  library  by 
the  Rev.  Charles  O'Conor,  D.D.,  the  Duke's  librarian,  was  printed  in 
1818-19. 


DUKE  OF  BUCKINGHAM  343 

left  England,  remaining  abroad  about  two  years. 
In  1834  he  was  compelled  to  sell  his  furniture, 
pictures,  and  articles  of  virtu,  but  did  not  part 
with  his  books,  which,  on  his  death  on  the 
17th  of  January  1839,  passed  into  the  possession 
of  his  only  son,  Richard  Plantagenet  Temple 
Nugent  Brydges  Chandos  Grenville,  who  was 
born  on  February  the  nth,  1797.  The  habits 
of  the  son  were  not  less  extravagant  than  those 
of  his  father,  and  in  1847  tne  effects  at  Stowe 
and  his  other  residences  were  seized  by  bailiffs, 
and  in  August  and  September  1848  the  pictures, 
furniture,  china,  plate,  etc.,  were  sold  by  auction, 
realising  over  seventy-five  thousand  five  hundred 
pounds.  The  printed  books  in  the  library  were 
sold  by  Sotheby  and  Wilkinson,  on  January  8th, 
1849,  and  eleven  following  days,  and  January  29, 
and  eleven  following  days.  There  were  six  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  twelve  lots  in  the  two 
sales,  which  brought  ten  thousand  three  hundred 
and  fifty-five  pounds,  seven  shillings  and  six- 
pence. The  extensive  and  valuable  series  of 
engraved  portraits  contained  in  the  Duke's  illus- 
trated copy  of  the  Biographical  History  of 
England,  by  the  Rev.  James  Granger,  was  sold 
by  the  same  auctioneers  on  March  5th  and  eight 
following  days,  and  a  continuation  of  it  by  the 
Rev.  Mark  Noble,  together  with  some  other 
engravings,  on  the  21st  of  March  and  five  follow- 
ing days.    There  were  two  thousand  two  hundred 


344         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

and  one  lots  in  these  two  sales,  for  which  the 
sum  of  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninct\  - 
nine  pounds,  eighteen  shillings  and  sixpence  was 
obtained.  The  manuscripts  were  bought  by  the 
Earl  of  Ashburnham  for  eight  thousand  pounds. 
The  collection  of  printed  books  in  the  Stowe 
library  was  inferior  in  interest  to  that  of  the 
manuscripts,  but  it  contained  some  rare  and 
choice  volumes.  Amongst  them  was  a  block- 
book,  The  Apocalypse,  which  sold  for  ninety-four 
pounds ;  Missale  ad  us  urn  Ecclesice  Andega- 
vensis,  on  vellum,  printed  in  1489,  sixty-three 
pounds ;  Le  Fevre's  Recuyles  of  the  Hy story es 
of  Troye,  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  1503, 
fifty-five  pounds ;  a  complete  set  of  the  twenty- 
five  parts  in  eight  volumes  of  De  Bry's  Collec- 
t tones  Peregrinationum,  printed  at  Frankfurt  in 
1 590- 1 634,  eighty-one  pounds  ;  De  Bry's  Relation 
of  Virginia,  translated  by  Hariot,  printed  at 
Frankfurt  in  1590,  sixty-three  pounds;  the  first 
Shakespeare  folio  (mended,  and  the  title-page 
slightly  imperfect),  seventy-six  pounds ;  fine, 
large,  and  perfect  copies  of  the  second  and  third 
folios,  eleven  pounds,  five  shillings  and  thirty- 
five  pounds;  Shakespeare's  Poems,  1640,  seven 
pounds,  ten  shillings ;  Prynne's  Records,  three 
volumes,  1665-70,  one  hundred  and  forty  pounds  ; 
the  fourth  volume,  printed  in  1665  or  1666, 
believed  to  be  unique,  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  pounds  ;   Houbraken's  Heads  of  Illustrious 


DUKE  OF  BUCKINGHAM  345 

Persons,  two  volumes,  1756,  folio,  large  paper, 
with  first  states  and  duplicate  proofs  of  the 
plates,  etc.,  ninety -one  pounds;  Bartolozzi's 
Engravings,  a  collection  of  six  hundred  and 
sixty  plates  in  various  proof  states,  bound  in 
eight  folio  volumes,  sixty-two  pounds  ;  Boydell's 
Prints,  five  hundred  and  forty  fine  impressions, 
bound  in  nine  folio  volumes,  seventy-eight 
pounds,  fifteen  shillings  ;  Lysons's  Topographical 
Account  of  Buckinghamshire \  inlaid  in  eight 
volumes,  atlas  folio,  and  super-illustrated  with 
four  hundred  and  eighty  drawings,  etc.,  five 
hundred  and  forty  pounds ;  and  Lysons's  Environs 
of  London,  large  paper,  eighteen  volumes  quarto, 
super -illustrated  with  eight  hundred  drawings 
and  a  large  number  of  plates,  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three  pounds.  The  Duke,  who  died  at 
the  Great  Western  Hotel,  London,  on  July 
the  29th,  1 86 1,  was  the  author  of  Memoirs  of  the 
Court  and  Cabinets  of  George  III.,  1853-55,  two 
volumes ;  Memoirs  of  the  Court  of  England 
during  the  Regency,  1856,  two  volumes  ;  Memoirs 
of  the  Court  of  George  IV.,  1859,  two  volumes ; 
Memoirs  of  the  Courts  and  Cabinets  of 
William  IV.  and  Victoria,  1861,  two  volumes; 
and  Private  Diary  of  Richard,  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham and  Chandos,  1862,  four  volumes; 
together  with  a  few  political  works. 


2X 


346         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

HENRY  PERKINS,  1778-1855 

Henry  Perkins,  who  was  born  in  1778,  was 
a  partner  in  the  well-known  firm  of  Barclay, 
Perkins  and  Co.,  brewers,  but  he  does  not  appear 
to  have  taken  an  active  part  in  the  business,  and 
he  spent  the  later  part  of  his  life  in  retirement 
among  his  books  at  Hanworth  Park,  Middlesex. 
He  died  at  Dover  on  the  15th  of  April  1855. 

Mr.  Perkins,  who  was  a  Fellow  of  the 
Linnean,  Geological  and  Horticultural  Societies, 
possessed  a  small  but  exceedingly  valuable  library, 
which,  among  many  other  extremely  rare  books, 
contained  two  copies  of  the  Gutenberg  Bible,  one 
on  vellum  and  the  other  on  paper;  a  copy  on 
vellum  of  Fust  and  Schoeffer's  Latin  Bible  of 
1462;  a  copy  of  the  Coverdale  Bible;  several 
works  from  the  press  of  Caxton,  and  the  first 
four  editions  of  Shakespeare's  Plays.  It  also 
comprised  many  fine  manuscripts,  some  of  them 
superbly  illuminated.  Mr.  Henry  Perkins  be- 
queathed his  books  to  his  son,  Mr.  Algernon 
Perkins,  and  after  his  death  in  1870  they  were 
sold  by  auction  at  Hanworth  by  Gadsden,  Ellis 
and  Co.  on  the  3rd,  4th,  5th  and  6th  of  June 
1873.  There  were  but  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  lots  in  the  sale,  but  they  realised  an  average 
of  thirty  pounds,  or  a  total  o^twenty-five  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  fifty-four  pounds,  four  shillings, 
the  largest  sum  ever  obtained  for  a  library  of  the 


FREDERICK  PERKINS  347 

same  extent.  The  vellum  copy  of  the  Gutenberg 
Bible  was  purchased  for  the  Earl  of  Ashburnham 
for  three  thousand  four  hundred  pounds ;  and 
the  paper  copy,  now  in  the  Huth  library,  fetched 
two  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety.  Fust 
and  Schoeffer's  Latin  Bible  of  1462,  which  Mr. 
Perkins  acquired  at  the  sale  of  Mr.  Dent's  books 
for  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  pounds,  five 
shillings,  sold  for  seven  hundred  and  eighty 
pounds ;  while  the  copy  of  Coverdale's  Bible, 
which  wanted  the  title  and  two  following  leaves 
and  the  map,  realised  four  hundred  pounds ;  and 
the  1623  edition  of  Shakespeare's  Plays  brought 
five  hundred  and  eighty-five  pounds.  The  manu- 
scripts also  went  for  large  sums.  John  Lydgate's 
Sege  of  Troye,  a  magnificently  illuminated  manu- 
script on  vellum  of  the  fifteenth  century;  Les 
CEuvres  Diverses  of  Jehan  de  Meun ;  and  Les 
Cent  Histoires  de  Troye  of  Christine  de  Pisan, 
of  about  the  same  period,  sold  respectively  for 
thirteen  hundred  and  twenty,  six  hundred  and 
ninety,  and  six  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  The 
prices  obtained  for  the  books  were  generally 
greatly  in  excess  of  those  given  by  Mr.  Perkins 
for  them. 


FREDERICK  PERKINS,  1780-1860 

Frederick  Perkins  of  Chepstead,   Kent,  born 
in    1780,    was    a    brother    of    Henry    Perkins, 


348        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

and  a  partner  in  the  same  firm.  He  also 
formed  a  good  library,  which  contained  the 
first  four  Shakespeare  folios,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  the  separate  plays  in  quarto.  Among 
them  were  the  first  editions  of  Loves  Labour 
Lost,  Much  Ado  about  Nothing,  the  Second 
Part  of  Henry  the  Fourth,  Troilus  a  fid  Cress  ida, 
Pericles,  Othello,  and  the  second  or  first  com- 
plete edition  of  Romeo  and  Juliet,  as  well  as  the 
first  edition  of  Lucrece.  Three  Caxtons  were  to 
be  found  in  the  collection  :  the  Mirrour  of  the 
IVorld,  the  Chastising  of  Goddes  Children,  and 
Higden's  Polycronicon,  but  they  were  not  good 
copies.  The  library  also  comprised  some  fine 
illuminated  Horae  and  other  manuscripts,  in- 
cluding a  copy  on  vellum  of  Chaucer's  Canter- 
bury Tales  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Mr.  Perkins 
died  on  the  ioth  of  October  i860,  and  his  library 
was  sold  by  Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hodge  on 
July  ioth,  1889,  and  six  following  days.  There 
were  two  thousand  and  eighty-six  lots  in  the 
sale,  which  realised  eight  thousand  two  hundred 
and  twenty-two  pounds,  seven  shillings.  The 
first  Shakespeare  folio  fetched  four  hundred  and 
fifteen  pounds,  the  second  forty-seven  pounds, 
the  third  one  hundred  pounds,  and  the  fourth 
fourteen  pounds.  Of  the  quarto  plays,  the  Second 
Part  of  Henry  the  Fourth  sold  for  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  pounds,  Otliello  for  one  hundred 
and  thirty  pounds,  and  Ro?neo  and  fuliet  for  one 


JOHN  BELLINGHAM  INGLIS  349 

hundred  and  sixty-four  pounds.  The  copies  of 
Loves  Labour  Lost,  Much  Ado  about  Nothing, 
Troilus  and  Cressida,  and  Pericles  were  poor 
ones,  and  realised  but  comparatively  small  sums. 
The  Lucrece  fetched  two  hundred  pounds. 


JOHN  BELLINGHAM  INGLIS,   1780-1870 

John  Bellingham  Inglis  was  born  in  London 
on  the  14th  of  February  1780.  His  father,  a 
partner  in  the  firm  of  Inglis,  Ellice  and  Co., 
merchants,  Mark  Lane,  London,  was  a  Director 
of  the  East  India  Company,  and  was  at  one  time 
its  Chairman.  In  consequence  of  the  failure  of 
his  father  young  Inglis  set  up  in  business  on 
his  own  account  in  the  wine  trade,  but  this  not 
proving  successful,  he  retired  after  a  short  time 
on  the  money  rescued  from  the  wreck  of  the 
fortune  of  his  father,  who  died  soon  after  his 
failure.  He  resided  for  many  years  in  St.  John's 
Wood,  but  afterwards  removed  to  Hampstead 
Heath.  He  died  at  13  Albion  Road,  N.W.,  on 
the  9th  of  December  1870. 

Mr.  Inglis,  who  was  a  good  classical  scholar, 
an  excellent  linguist,  and  a  man  of  considerable 
literary  ability,  commenced  collecting  books  at  a 
very  early  age,  and  soon  formed  a  very  valuable 
and  important  library,  which  was  especially  rich 
in  works  from  the  presses  of  the  early  English 


350         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

printers.  Unlike  some  possessors  of  libraries, 
he  read  the  books  which  he  had  collected ;  and 
the  Duke  of  Sussex,  at  one  of  his  literary  dinners 
at  Kensington  Palace,  is  reported  to  have  said : 
'  Gentlemen,  you  are  all  very  learned  about  titles, 
editions,  and  printers,  but  none  of  you  seem  to 
have  read  anything  of  the  books  except  Mr. 
Inglis  here.'  In  1832  he  translated  into  English, 
for  the  first  time,  the  Philobiblon  of  Richard  de 
Bury,  and  presented  it  to  Thomas  Rodd,  the 
bookseller,  who  published  it.  He  also  made 
translations  of  several  other  mediaeval  printed 
books  and  manuscripts,  which  have  never  been 
published.  A  biographical  notice  of  him  appears 
in  The  Bookworm  of  December  1870,  by  J.  P. 
Berjeau,  the  editor  of  that  periodical.  A  por- 
tion of  Inglis's  books  was  sold  anonymously  by 
Sotheby  on  June  9th,  1826,  and  seven  following 
days.  The  title-page  of  the  catalogue  reads : 
'  Catalogue  of  a  singularly  curious  and  valuable 
selection  from  the  Library  of  a  Gentleman,  in- 
cluding three  extraordinary  specimens  of  Block 
Printing;  Books  printed  in  the  Fifteenth  Century; 
Books  printed  on  vellum  ;  Fine  copies  of  Works 
from  the  Presses  of  Caxton,  Machlinia,  Wynkyn 
de  Worde,  Pynson,  Julyan  Notary,  Verard,  etc. ; 
an  extensive  Collection  of  Old  English  Poetry ; 
Romances ;  Historical  and  Theological  Tracts ; 
early  Voyages  and  Travels ;  curious  Treatises 
on  Witches  and  Witchcraft ;  some  of  the  earliest 


JOHN  BELLINGHAM  INGLIS  351 

Dictionaries  and  Vocabularies  in  the  English 
Language,  etc.  Likewise  several  Manuscripts 
on  vellum,  most  beautifully  illuminated,  etc/ 
The  number  of  lots  in  this  sale  was  sixteen 
hundred  and  sixty-five,  and  the  sum  realised 
three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three 
pounds,  nine  shillings  and  sixpence.  The  prices 
obtained  for  the  books  were  extremely  low.  The 
three  block-books: — the  first  edition  of  the 
Speculum  Humancz  Salvationist  Historia  Sancti 
Johannis  Evangelistce  ejusque  Visiones  Apoca- 
lyftticce,  and  the  Biblia  Pauperum  fetched  but 
ninety-five  pounds,  eleven  shillings ;  forty-seven 
pounds,  five  shillings,  and  thirty-six  pounds, 
fifteen  shillings  respectively ;  while  no  more  than 
four  hundred  and  thirty-one  pounds,  fifteen 
shillings  and  sixpence  could  be  obtained  for  the 
thirteen  Caxtons  in  the  sale — about  thirty-three 
pounds  each.  The  following  are  a  few  of  the 
other  notable  books  in  this  fine  collection,  and 
the  prices  they  fetched :  Les  Faits  de  Maistre 
Alain  Char  tier,  imprimez  a  Paris  par  Pierre 
le  Caron  pour  Anthoine  Verard,  printed  on 
vellum,  with  capital  letters  painted  in  gold  and 
colours,  fifty-six  pounds,  fourteen  shillings ;  Le 
Recueil  des  Histoires  Troiennes,  imprime  a  Paris 
par  Anthoine  Verard,  presentation  copy  to 
Charles  vin.,  printed  on  vellum,  ornamented  with 
eighty-three  miniatures,  twenty-seven  pounds  ; 
Vincent,  Les  cinq  volumes  du  Miroir  Hystorial, 


352         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

imprime  a  Paris  par  Ant  home  Verard%  1495-96, 
forty-six  pounds,  four  shillings  ;  Speculum  Chris- 
tiani,  printed  by  Machlinia,  sixteen  pounds, 
sixteen  shillings  ;  Promptorius  Puerorum,  printed 
by  Pynson  in  1499,  thirty-eight  pounds,  seven- 
teen shillings  ;  The  Floure  of  the  Commandments 
of  God,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  1521,  thirteen  pounds, 
thirteen  shillings  ;  Tlte  Catechisme,  set  furth  by 
.  .  .  fohne,  Archbischop  of  Sane t  Androus,  etc. 
Prentit  at  Satict  Androus,  1552,  sixteen  pounds, 
five  shillings  and  sixpence;  Mary  of  Nemmegen, 
printed  at  Antwerp  by  Jan  Van  Doesborgh  in 
1518  or  1519,  the  only  copy  known,  twenty-four 
pounds;  Painter,  The  Palace  of  Pleasure,  London, 
Thomas  Marshe,  1575,  a  very  fine  copy,  twenty- 
three  pounds ;  and  Shakespeare's  Sonnets, 
London,  1609,  forty  pounds,  nineteen  shillings. 
Perhaps  the  finest  of  the  manuscripts  were  a 
beautifully  illuminated  copy  on  vellum  of  the 
Liber  de  Proprietatibus  Rerum,  Anglice,  by 
Bartholomaeus  de  Glanvilla,  written  towards  the 
end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  which  fetched 
fifty-one  pounds,  nine  shillings ;  and  Boccaccio's 
Tragedies  of  the  Falle  of  Unfortunate  Princes, 
translated  into  English  verse,  written  on  vellum 
in  England  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  richly  illuminated.  Thirty  pounds, 
nine  shillings  was  all  that  was  obtained  for  this 
fine  manuscript.  After  Inglis's  death,  his  son, 
Dr.  C.  Inglis,  sold  such  books  as  he  could  not 


JOHN  BELLINGHAM  INGLIS  353 

find  room  for.  They  were  disposed  of  by  Sotheby, 
Wilkinson  and  Hodge  on  the  31st  of  July  1871, 
and  five  following  days,  and  realised  two  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  sixty-six  pounds,  thirteen 
shillings  and  sixpence.  Among  the  fifteen  hun- 
dred and  eighty-eight  lots  in  the  sale  were  a 
few  rare  books  and  some  fine  papyri.  A  third 
sale  of  the  books  in  this  splendid  library,  by 
order  of  Dr.  C.  Inglis,  took  place  on  June  nth, 
1900,  and  three  following  days,  by  the  same 
auctioneers.  In  this  sale  there  were  eight 
hundred  and  forty-nine  lots,  for  which  the  sum 
of  seven  thousand  five  hundred  and  nineteen 
pounds,  twelve  shillings  and  sixpence  was  ob- 
tained. Although  no  Caxtons  were  to  be  found 
among  the  books,  there  were  many  rare  and  in- 
teresting examples  from  the  presses  of  Machlinia, 
Pynson,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  Julian  Notary  and 
other  early  English  printers.  The  foreign  printers 
were  also  well  represented,  and  the  collection 
contained  several  beautiful  Books  of  Hours, 
both  printed  and  in  manuscript.  Some  very 
high  prices  were  obtained  for  the  more  important 
books,  as  the  following  list  of  a  few  of  the  most 
notable  will  show: — Speculum  Hutnancz  Salva- 
tionis,  printed  by  G.  Zainer  at  Augsburg  in  147 1, 
eighty-four  pounds ;  Turrecremata,  Medita- 
tiones,  Romae,  1473,  one  hundred  pounds ;  the 
first  edition  of  the  Philobiblon  of  Richard  de 
Bury,  Colonise,  1473,  eighty  pounds  ;   Rolle  de 

2  Y 


354         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Hampole  super  Job,  attributed  to  the  Oxford 
press  of  Rood  and  Hunt,  about  1481-86,  three 
hundred  pounds;  Chronicle  of  England,  printed 
by  Machlinia  about  1484,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  pounds ;  Heures  de  lusaige  de 
Rom  me,  with  cuts  printed  in  various  colours, 
Paris,  Jehan  du  Prd,  1490,  two  hundred  and 
seventy-two  pounds ;  First  Letter  of  Columbus 
(Latin)  1493,  Vespuccius,  Mundus  Novus,  1502, 
and  other  rare  tracts  in  one  volume,  two  hundred 
and  thirty  pounds ;  Verardus  in  Laudem  Fer- 
nandi  Hispaniarum  Regis,  etc.,  containing  the 
letter  of  Columbus  to  King  Ferdinand  on  his 
discovery  of  America,  1494,  ninety  pounds; 
Vitas  Pat  rum,  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde 
in  1495,  fifty  pounds ;  Hoe/ken  van  Devotien, 
Antwerpen,  1496,  one  hundred  and  one  pounds ; 
Post  ilia  Epistolarum  et  Evangeliorum  Domiui- 
calium,  printed  by  Julian  Notary  in  1509,  fifty 
pounds ;  Mirrour  of  Oure  Ladye,  R.  Fawkes, 
153O1  forty-nine  pounds;  Heures  de  Rome,  with 
illustrations  by  Geofifroy  Tory,  Paris,  1525,  one 
hundred  and  forty-four  pounds  ;  and  Spenser's 
Faerie  Queene,  Foure  Hymnes,  Prothalamion, 
etc.,  all  first  editions,  1590-96,  one  hundred  and 
seventy  pounds. 


WILLIAM  HENRY  MILLER  355 


WILLIAM  HENRY  MILLER,   1789-1848 

Mr.  William  Henry  Miller,  who  was  born  in 
1789,  was  the  only  child  of  Mr.  William  Miller  of 
Craigentinny,  Midlothian.  In  1830  he  entered 
Parliament  as  one  of  the  Members  for  Newcastle- 
under-Lyme,  which  seat  he  held  until  the  year 
1 84 1.  He  died  unmarried  at  his  residence, 
Craigentinny  House,  near  Edinburgh,  on  the 
31st  of  October  1848,  and  was  buried,  according 
to  his  desire,  in  a  mausoleum  on  his  estate. 
Mr.  Miller  formed  a  fine  collection  of  very 
choice  books  at  Britwell  Court,  Buckinghamshire, 
many  of  which  he  acquired  at  the  Heber  and 
other  important  sales  of  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  He  was  very  particular 
about  the  condition  and  size  of  the  volumes 
he  purchased,  and  from  his  habit  of  carrying 
a  foot-rule  about  him  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining their  dimensions  he  became  known  as 
1  Measure  Miller.'  The  library  was  bequeathed 
to  his  cousin  Miss  Marsh,  from  whom  it  passed 
to  Mr.  Samuel  Christie-Miller,  who  was  Member 
for  Newcastle-under-Lyme  from  1847 t0  1%S9>  an<^ 
on  his  death  on  the  5th  of  April  1889  to  Mr. 
Wakefield  Christie-Miller,  who  died  at  Dublin 
on  the  22nd  of  February  1898.  Many  rare  books 
have  been  added  to  the  Britwell  Library  by  its 
later  possessors.     The  additions  made  by  the  last 


356         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

owner  were  especially  important,  notably  that  of 
the  larger  portion  of  the  Elizabethan  rarities 
discovered  in  1867  at  Lamport  Hall,  the  seat  of 
Sir  Charles  Isham ;  and  the  collection  may  now 
be  considered  unrivalled  among  private  libraries 
for  the  number  of  choice  examples  of  English 
and  Scottish  literature  which  it  contains,  par- 
ticularly in  the  division  of  English  poetry.  The 
finest  copy  known  of  the  Dictes  or  Sayings  of 
tlic  Philosophers,  one  of  the  three  extant  copies 
of  the  Morale  Prouerbes  of  Cristyne,  and  nine 
other  works  printed  by  Caxton,  are  to  be  found 
on  the  shelves  of  the  library,  as  well  as  a  large 
number  of  books  from  the  presses  of  Wynkyn 
de  Worde,  Pynson,  Julyan  Notary,  and  other 
early  English  printers.  Among  them  are  many 
editions  of  the  grammatical  treatises  of  Robert 
Whitinton  and  John  Stanbridge,  printed  by 
Wynkyn  de  Worde,  and  unique  copies  of  Fitz- 
herbert's  Boke  of  Husbandrie,  the  romance  of 
Oliver  of  Castile,  and  Fysshynge  with  an  Angle, 
all  by  the  same  printer.  The  library  contains  also 
a  fine  series  of  the  early  editions  of  the  English 
Chronicles,  and  of  the  works  of  Chaucer.  Among 
the  treasures  of  the  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean 
periods  are  the  first  Shakespeare  folio  (the  second, 
third,  and  fourth  folios  are  also  in  the  library) ; 
an  unique  copy  of  an  edition  of  Venus  and 
Adonis,  printed  for  William  Leake  at  London  in 
1599,  from  the  Isham  collection;   all   the  early 


WILLIAM  HENRY  MILLER  357 

editions  of  Sidney's  Arcadia ;  fine  examples  of 
the  early  editions  of  the  works  of  Edmund 
Spenser ;  the  only  perfect  copy  known  of  the  first 
edition  of  the  Paradyse  of  Daintie  Devises ;  and 
remarkably  complete  sets  of  the  works  of  Church- 
yard, Breton,  Greene,  Dekker,  Wither  and  Brath- 
waite.  Other  notable  books  in  this  splendid 
library  are  a  copy  on  vellum,  with  coloured  maps, 
of  Ptolemy's  Cosmographia,  printed  at  Ulm  in 
1482,  and  bound  by  Derome;  the  Aldine  edition 
of  Poliphili  Hypnerotomachia,  in  the  original 
binding,  and  an  unique  copy  of  the  English 
translation  printed  in  London  by  Samuel  Water- 
son  in  1592 ;  a  fine  and  perfect  set  in  nine 
parts  of  the  Mirrour  of  Princely  Deedes  and 
Knighthood  (a  translation  of  the  Spanish  Espejo 
de  Principes  y  Cavalleros) ;  editions  of  Hakluyt's 
Voyages ;  a  beautiful  and  tall  copy  of  Purchas 
his  Pi/grimes ;  the  finest  and  most  complete  set 
which  has  been  formed  of  De  Bry's  Voyages; 
the  first  issue  of  Milton's  Paradise  Lost;  the 
first  edition  of  Walton's  Compleat  Angler  in  the 
original  sheepskin  binding ;  the  Kilmarnock  edi- 
tion of  Burns's  Poems ;  and  several  of  the  original 
editions  of  Shelley's  works,  including  the  exces- 
sively rare  GEdipus  Tyrannus.  There  is  a 
fine  collection  of  early  English  music  in  the 
Britwell  Library,  and  it  possesses  the  greater 
portion  of  the  Heber  ballads  and  broadsides,  and 
a  large  number  of  books  which  once  belonged  to 


358         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

1  ta  Thou.  Many  of  the  volumes  are  masterpieces 
of  the  work  of  Bedford,  Riviere,  Lortic,  and 
other  English  and  foreign  binders, 


GEORGE  DANIEL,  1789-1864 

George  Daniel  was  born  in  London  on  the 
1 6th  of  September  1789.  After  receiving  an  educa- 
tion at  Mr.  Thomas  Hogg's  boarding-school  at 
Paddington  Green,  he  became  a  clerk  to  a  stock- 
broker in  Tokenhouse  Yard,1  and  afterwards 
followed  the  profession  of  an  accountant ;  but  he 
employed  all  his  leisure  time  in  literary  pursuits, 
and  in  the  collection  of  books,  works  of  art  and 
curiosities.  He  commenced  writing  at  a  very 
early  age,  and  was  the  author  of  a  novel  The 
Adventures  of  Dick  Distich,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  poetical  and  dramatic  pieces.  He  also 
contributed  many  articles  to  Ackerman's  Poetical 
Magazine,  Bentleys  Miscellany,  and  other  maga- 
zines, and  was  the  editor  of  Cumberland's  British 
Theatre,  and  Cumberland's  Minor  Theatre. 
His  first  printed  production,  Stanzas  on  Lord 
Nelsons  Victory  and  Death,  written  in  conjunc- 
tion with  a  young  friend,  appeared  in  1805,  but 
he  tells  us  that  he  wrote  some  verses  when  he 
was  but  eight  years  of  age  on  the  death  of  his 
father.     In  181 1  he  published  a  poem  called  The 

1  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 


GEORGE  DANIEL  359 

Times \  or  the  Prophecy,  and  in  181 2  a  poetical 
squib  founded  on  the  reputed  horse-whipping  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales  by  Lord  Yarmouth,  entitled 
R-y-l  Stripes\  or,  a  Kick  from  Yar — th  to 
IVa — s,  for  the  suppression  of  which  a  large  sum 
was  paid  by  the  Prince  Regent.  In  the  same 
year  appeared  The  Adventures  of  Dick  Distich 
in  three  volumes,  which  was  written  by  the 
author  before  he  was  eighteen,  and  a  volume  of 
Miscellaneous  Poems ;  and  in  18 14  The  Modern 
Dunciad,  in  which  he  sings  the  praises  of  '  old 
books,  old  wines,  old  customs,  and  old  friends.' 
He  continued  to  write  during  the  whole  of  his 
life,  and  his  last  work,  Love's  Last  Labour  not 
Lost,  was  published  in  1863.  Daniel  was  fond 
of  convivial  society,  and  numbered  Charles  Lamb 
and  Robert  Bloomfield  among  his  acquaintances, 
and  he  was  also  intimate  with  many  of  the 
principal  actors  of  the  day.  He  died  at  his  son's 
house,  The  Grove,  Stoke  Newington,  on  the  30th 
of  March  1864.  The  cause  of  his  death  was 
apoplexy. 

Daniel  formed  a  very  choice  and  valuable 
library  in  his  residence,  18  Canonbury  Square, 
Islington,  which  was  chiefly  remarkable  for  rare 
editions  of  old  English  writers,  and  very  fine 
collections  of  Elizabethan  black-letter  ballads 
and  Shakespeariana.  The  Elizabethan  ballads 
would  alone  be  sufficient  to  render  any  library 
famous.     They  were  one  hundred  and  forty-nine 


36o        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

in  number,  and  he  is  said  to  have  purchased  then 
for  fifty  pounds  from  Mr.  William  Stevenson 
Fitch,  Postmaster  at  Ipswich,  who  is  believed 
to  have  obtained  them  from  the  housekeeper 
at  Helmingham  Hall,  Suffolk,  the  residence 
of  the  Tollemache  family.  Of  these  ballads 
seventy-nine  were  sold  to  Mr.  Heber  by  Mr. 
Daniel  for  seventy  pounds,  and  the  remaining 
seventy  were  bought  at  the  sale  of  his  library 
for  seven  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  by  Mr.  Huth, 
who  had  them  printed  for  presentation  to  the 
members  of  the  Philobiblon  Society.  The  Shake- 
spearian collection  comprised  splendid  copies  of 
the  first  four  folios  and  eighteen  of  the  quarto 
plays,  together  with  the  1594  and  1655  editions  of 
Lucrece,  the  1594  and  1596  editions  of  Venus  and 
Adonis,  and  the  first  editions  of  the  Sonnets 
and  Poems.  The  library  also  contained  a  large 
number  of  early  Jest-Books,  Drolleries,  Garlands 
and  Penny-Histories ;  and  among  the  rare  edi- 
tions of  English  writers  were  works  by  John 
Skelton,  Edmund  Spenser,  Anthony  Chute, 
Robert  Chester,  Anthony  Munday,  Ben  Jonson, 
Patrick  Han  nay,  George  Herbert,  Robert  Herrick, 
John  Milton,  and  many  others.  Several  very 
beautiful  manuscripts  were  also  to  be  found  in  it. 
Daniel's  library  was  sold  by  auction  by 
Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hodge  on  the  20th  of 
July  1864,  and  the  nine  following  days.  There 
were  eighteen  hundred  and  seventeen  lots,  which 


GEORGE  DANIEL  361 

realised  thirteen  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
eighty-four  pounds,  eleven  shillings ;  the  water- 
colour  drawings,  engravings,  portraits,  coins, 
etc.,  of  which  there  were  four  hundred  and 
sixty-one  lots,  were  sold  at  the  same  time,  and 
produced  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty 
pounds,  eleven  shillings  more. 

The  sale  excited  great  interest,  and  many  of 
the  books  went  for  large  sums ;  but  the  prices 
obtained  for  others  were  small  compared  with 
those  the  volumes  would  fetch  at  the  present 
time :  a  fine  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  Walton's 
Compleat  Angler  realised  no  more  than  twenty- 
seven  pounds,  ten  shillings.  All  the  Shakespeares 
sold  well.  The  first  folio,  probably  the  finest 
example  extant,  was  bought  by  the  Baroness 
Burdett-Coutts  for  six  hundred  and  eighty-two 
guineas,  till  recently  the  highest  price  ever 
obtained  for  a  copy ; l  and  the  second,  third  and 
fourth  folios  fetched  respectively  one  hundred 
and  forty-eight  pounds,  forty-six  pounds,  and 
twenty-one  pounds,  ten  shillings.  The  third  folio 
was  a  good  copy,  but  had  the  title  in  facsimile, 
which  accounts  for  the  small  sum  it  realised.  Of 
the  quarto  plays,  the  first  edition  of  King  Richard 
the  Third — a  very  fine  copy — sold  for  three 
hundred  and  fifty-one  pounds,  fifteen  shillings ; 

1  At  a  sale  at  Sotheby's  on  July  nth,  1899,  Mr.  M'George  of  Glasgow 
gave  seventeen  hundred  pounds  for  a  copy;  and  two  years  later  Mr.  Quaritch 
purchased  another  copy  at  Christie's  for  seventeen  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds. 

2Z 


362         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

the  first  editions  of  the  Merry  Wives  of  IVindsor 
and  Loves  Labour  Lost  for  three  hundred  and 
forty-six  pounds,  ten  shillings  each,  and  the  first 
edition  of  King  Richard  the  Second  for  three 
hundred  and  forty-one  pounds,  five  shillings. 
The  1594  and  1596  editions  of  Venus  and  Adonis 
realised  two  hundred  and  forty  pounds  and  three 
hundred  and  fifteen  pounds  ;  a  copy  of  the  Sonnets 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds,  fifteen 
shillings ;  and  the  first  edition  of  Lucrece  one 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  pounds,  ten  shillings. 
The  copy  of  Loves  Labour  Lost,  and  the  1596 
edition  of  Venus  and  Adonis,  of  which  the 
Bodleian  Library  possesses  the  only  other  copy, 
were  secured  for  the  British  Museum. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  other  more 
notable  books  in  the  library,  together  with  the 
prices  they  fetched  at  the  sale : — Unique  copy  of 
The  Boke  of  Hawkynge  and  Huntynge  and 
Fysshynge,  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde, 
without  date,  one  hundred  and  eight  pounds ; 
Ry chard  Cuer  de  Lyon}  also  printed  by  Wynkyn 
de  Worde,  1528,  ninety-two  pounds ;  Comfilaynt 
of  a  Dolorous  Lover,  printed  by  Robert  Wyer 
about  1550,  unique,  sixty-seven  pounds,  four  shil- 
lings ;  TJie  Tragic  all Historie  ofRomeus  andjuliet 
(London,  1562),  seventy-seven  pounds,  fourteen 
shillings  ;  Merry  Jeste  of  a  shrewde  and  curste 
IVyfe  (London,  about  1575),  unique,  sixty-four 
pounds ;  Munday's  Banquet  of  Daintie  Conceits 


GEORGE  DANIEL  363 

(London,  1588),  unique,  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  pounds ;  Chute' sBeawtie  Dishonoured,  written 
under  the  title  of  Shores  Wife  (London,  1593), 
unique,  ninety-six  pounds  ;  Maroccus  Extaticus, 
or  Bankes  Bay  Horse  (London,  1595),  eighty-one 
pounds ;  Chester's  Loves  Martyr y  or  Rosalins 
Complaynt  (London,  1601) — this  work  contains  a 
poem  (Threnos)  by  Shakespeare  at  p.  172 — one 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  pounds ;  Meeting  of 
Gallants  at  an  Ordinarie,  or  the  Walkes  in 
Bowles  (London,  1604),  unique,  eighty-one  pounds; 
Se/anus,  his  Fall,  by  Ben  Jonson,  first  edition 
(London,  1605),  printed  on  large  paper,  a  presenta- 
tion copy  from  the  author  with  the  following 
autograph  inscription — 

'  To  my  perfect  friend  Mr.  Francis  Crane 

I  erect  this  Altar  of  Friendship, 

and  leave  it  as  an  eternall  witnesse  of  my  Love. 

Ben  Jonson' — 

unique,  one  hundred  and  six  pounds ;  Hannay's 
Bhilomela,  the  Nightingale,  etc.  (London,  1622), 
ninety-six  pounds. 

A  carved  casket  made  out  of  the  mulberry 
tree  in  Shakespeare's  Garden,  and  presented  to 
Garrick  with  the  freedom  of  the  borough  of 
Stratford-on-Avon,  was  purchased  at  Charles 
Mathews's  sale  in  1835  by  Daniel  for  forty-seven 
guineas,  and  presented  by  him  to  the  British 
Museum. 


364         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLFXTORS 


WILLIAM,  SIXTH  DUKE  OF  DEVON- 
SHIRE,   1790-1858 

All  the  Dukes  of  Devonshire  were  men  of  letters 
and  collectors  of  books.  William,  the  first  Duke, 
acquired  many  volumes  which  had  belonged  to 
De  Thou,  and  William,  the  third  Duke,  bought 
largely  at  the  sales  of  the  libraries  of  Colbert, 
Baluze,  Count  von  Hoym  and  other  collectors  of 
his  time ;  but  William,  the  sixth  Duke,  who  was 
born  on  May  the  2 1  st,  1 790,  may  justly  be  regarded 
as  the  founder  of  the  Chatsworth  Library  in  its 
present  form.  '  He  imbibed  a  taste  for  literature 
and  books,'  says  Sir  J.  P.  Lacaita  in  his  preface 
to  the  catalogue  of  the  Library,  '  from  his  mother, 
Lady  Georgiana  Spencer,  the  M  beautiful  Duchess 
of  Devonshire,"  and  from  his  uncle  George  John, 
second  Earl  Spencer,  who  formed  what  is  perhaps 
the  finest  private  library  in  existence.'  In  181 1 
he  succeeded  to  the  Dukedom,  and  shortly  after- 
wards endeavoured  to  add  to  his  library  Count 
M'Carthy's  collection,  for  which  he  offered  twenty 
thousand  pounds,  but  the  offer  was  declined.  He 
purchased  the  choicer  portion  of  the  books  of 
Thomas  Dampier,  Bishop  of  Ely,  and  he  bought 
largely  at  the  sales  of  the  Edwards,  Roxburghe, 
Towneley  and  other  libraries.  In  18 15  the  Duke 
removed  the  books  from  his  other  residences  to 


Duke  of  Devonshire. 


DUKE  OF  DEVONSHIRE  365 

Chatsworth  with  a  view  to  the  formation  of  a 
great  library  there,1  and  in  1821  he  purchased 
John  Philip  Kemble's  splendid  collection  of  plays 
for  two  thousand  pounds,  adding  to  it  four  years 
later  the  first  edition  of  Hamlet,  which  he  pur- 
chased of  Messrs.  Payne  and  Foss,  the  booksellers 
of  Pall  Mall,  for  one  hundred  pounds.  But  one 
other  copy  of  this  precious  little  volume  is  known 
to  exist,  that  in  the  British  Museum,  which 
wants  the  title-page,  while  that  acquired  by  the 
Duke  is  without  the  last  leaf.  After  the  death  of 
the  Duke  on  January  the  18th,  1858,  the  collec- 
tion at  Chatsworth  was  further  enlarged  by  his 
successor,  who  transferred  to  it  some  choice 
books  from  the  library  at  Chiswick,  and  also 
added  to  it  a  select  portion  of  the  books 
of  his  brother,  Lord  Richard  Cavendish,  who 
died  in  1873.2  In  1879  a  catalogue  of  the 
books  at  Chatsworth  was  compiled  by  Sir  J.  P. 
Lacaita,  the  librarian,  in  four  volumes,  and  printed 
at  the  Chiswick  Press.  The  library  is  rich  in 
choice  and  early  editions  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
Classics,  and  the  productions  of  the  Aldine  Press 
are  particularly  numerous  and  fine.  Of  the  Bibles, 
the  Latin  Bible  of  1462,  and  a  vellum  copy  of 
that  printed  by  Jenson  in  1476,  are  perhaps  the 
most  important.  As  many  as  twenty-five  works 
from  the  press  of  Caxton,  and  twenty-four  from 

1  Preface  to  the  catalogue  of  the  library  at  Chatsworth,  by  Sir  J.  P. 
Lacaita.  ■  Ibid. 


366         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

that  of  Wynkyn  de  Worde  are  to  be  found  in  the 
catalogue.  Among  the  Caxtons  is  a  copy  of  the 
Recuyell  of  the  Histories  of  Troye,  which  once 
belonged  to  Elizabeth  Grey,  wife  of  Edward  iv. 
This  volume  was  bought  at  the  Roxburghe  sale 
for  one  thousand  and  sixty  pounds,  ten  shillings. 
A  magnificent  copy  of  De  Bry's  Collectiones 
Peregrinatiotiiuti ,  which  formerly  belonged  to 
Francois  C£sar  Le  Tellier,  Marquis  de  Courtan- 
vaux,  is  also  deserving  of  special  notice.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  books  are  in  handsome 
and  historical  bindings,  and  no  fewer  than 
twenty-four  volumes  from  the  library  of  Grolier 
are  to  be  found  on  the  shelves  of  the  collection, 
which  also  contains  a  nearly  complete  set  of 
County  Histories.  Among  the  manuscripts  is 
one  of  great  interest.  It  is  a  Missal  given  by 
King  Henry  vn.  to  his  daughter  Margaret,  Queen 
Consort  of  James  iv.,  King  of  Scotland,  and 
mother  of  the  Lady  Margaret  Douglas,  who  later 
presented  the  volume  to  the  Archbishop  of  St. 
Andrews.  The  book  contains  two  notes  in  the 
handwriting  of  Henry.  On  the  recto  of  the  four- 
teenth leaf  he  has  written,  '  Remember  yor  kynde 
and  louyng  fader  an  yor  good  prayers,  Henry 
Ky ' ;  and  on  the  reverse  of  leaf  32,  '  Pray  for  your 
louyng  fader  that  gave  you  this  booke,  and  I 
geve  you  att  all  tymes  godds  blessyg  and  myne, 
Henry  Ky.'  On  the  reverse  of  leaf  156  Lady 
Margaret  Douglas  has  written,  'My  good  lorde  of 


SIR  THOMAS  PHILLIPPS  367 

Saynt  Andrews  i  pray  you  pray  for  me  that  gaufe 
yow  thys  buuk — yowrs  too  my  pour,  Margaret.' 

The  Devonshire  library  also  contains  a  magni- 
ficent series  of  drawings  by  the  old  masters,  and 
prints  by  the  early  engravers,  which  were  acquired 
by  William,  the  second  Duke.  The  gem  of  the 
collection  of  drawings  is  the  Liber  Veritatis,  a 
set  of  original  designs  by  Claude  Lorrain,  which 
Louis  xiv.  endeavoured  in  vain  to  purchase. 


SIR  THOMAS  PHILLIPPS,  Bart., 
1 792-1872 

Sir  Thomas  Phillipps,  Bart.,  who  was  the  son 
of  Thomas  Phillipps,  of  Broadway,  Worcester- 
shire, was  born  at  Manchester  on  the  2nd  of 
July  1792.  He  was  educated  at  Rugby,  and  in 
181 1  proceeded  to  University  College,  Oxford, 
graduating  B.A.  in  1815  and  M.A.  in  1820.  In 
1 81 8,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  he  succeeded  to 
the  family  estates,  and  in  1821  he  was  created  a 
baronet.  Phillipps  died  at  Thirlestaine  House, 
Cheltenham,  on  the  6th  of  February  1872,  and 
was  buried  at  Broadway.  He  was  twice  married, 
and  by  his  first  wife  had  three  daughters. 
Phillipps,  who  was  a  Trustee  of  the  British 
Museum  and  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  and 
of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  and  also  a  member 


368         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

of  the  principal  learned  societies,  both  English 
and  foreign,  began  at  a  very  early  age  to  collect 
books.  While  at  Rugby  he  formed  a  small 
library,  the  catalogue  of  which  is  still  in  exist- 
ence, and  the  inheritance  of  his  father's  property 
in  1818  enabled  him  to  commence  the  formation 
of  his  magnificent  collection  of  manuscripts. 
With  a  view  to  their  acquisition,  in  1820  he  paid 
a  visit  to  the  Continent,  and  remained  abroad 
until  1825,  during  which  time  he  made  large 
purchases  of  manuscripts,  especially  at  the  sale 
of  the  famous  Meerman  collection  at  the  Hague 
in  1824,  and  he  also  privately  bought  the  manu- 
scripts belonging  to  the  extensive  and  important 
collection  of  Professor  Van  Ess  of  Darmstadt, 
together  with  a  number  of  his  early  printed  books. 
Phillipps  was  indefatigable  in  the  acquirement  of 
his  treasures,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  his 
library  contained  some  sixty  thousand  manu- 
scripts, and  a  goodly  collection  of  printed  books. 
He  writes  :  '  In  amassing  my  collection  of  manu- 
scripts, I  commenced  with  purchasing  everything 
that  lay  within  my  reach,  to  which  I  was 
instigated  by  reading  various  accounts  of  the 
destruction  of  valuable  manuscripts.  .  .  .  My 
principal  search  has  been  for  historical,  and 
particularly  unpublished  manuscripts,  whether 
good  or  bad,  and  particularly  those  on  vellum. 
My  chief  desire  for  preserving  vellum  manu- 
scripts   arose    from    witnessing    the    unceasing 


SIR  THOMAS  PHILLIPPS  369 

destruction  of  them  by  goldbeaters ;  my  search 
for  charters  or  deeds  by  their  destruction  in  the 
shops  of  glue-makers  and  tailors.  As  I  advanced 
the  ardour  of  the  pursuit  increased,  until  at  last  I 
became  a  perfect  vello-maniac  (if  I  may  coin  a 
word),  and  I  gave  any  price  that  was  asked.  Nor 
do  I  regret  it,  for  my  object  was  not  only  to 
secure  good  manuscripts  for  myself,  but  also  to 
raise  the  public  estimation  of  them,  so  that  their 
value  might  be  more  generally  known,  and 
consequently  more  manuscripts  preserved.  For 
nothing  tends  to  the  preservation  of  anything  so 
much  as  making  it  bear  a  high  price.  The 
examples  I  always  kept  in  view  were  Sir  Robert 
Cotton  and  Sir  Robert  Harley.' 

Sir  Thomas  Phillipps's  collection  was  not 
confined  to  European  manuscripts.  It  contained 
several  hundred  Oriental  ones,  and  he  also 
acquired  those  relating  to  Mexico  belonging  to 
Lord  Kingsborough.  The  illuminated  manu- 
scripts were  particularly  fine,  and  some  of  them 
had  been  executed  for  regal  and  other  distin- 
guished persons,  and  were  beautifully  bound. 
Many  of  the  manuscripts  which  related  to  Ireland 
and  Wales  were  of  special  interest  and  great  value. 
For  many  years  Phillipps  kept  his  library, 
together  with  his  fine  collections  of  pictures, 
drawings,  and  coins  at  his  residence  at  Middle 
Hill,  Worcestershire ;  but  in  1862,  in  consequence 
of  their  ever-increasing  size,  he  removed  them  to 

3A 


370        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Thirlestaine  House,  Cheltenham,  which  he  pur- 
chased from  Lord  Northwick.  On  Sir  Thomas's 
death  his  entailed  Middle  Hill  estates  went  to  his 
eldest  daughter,  Henrietta  Elizabeth  Molyneux, 
the  wife  of  James  Orchard  Halliwell,  the  Shake- 
spearian commentator,  but  in  a  will  made  shortly 
before  his  death  he  left  Thirlestaine  House, 
together  with  his  books,  manuscripts,  pictures, 
and  other  collections,  to  his  third  daughter, 
Katherine  Somerset  Wyttenbach,  wife  of  the  Rev. 
J.  E.  A.  Fenwick,  at  one  time  vicar  of  Needwood, 
Staffordshire.  This  bequest  was,  however,  en- 
cumbered with  the  singular  condition,  that 
neither  his  eldest  daughter,  nor  her  husband, 
nor  any  Roman  Catholic  should  ever  enter  the 
house.1  His  second  daughter,  Maria  Sophia, 
who  married  the  Rev.  John  Walcott  of  Bitterley 
Court,  Shropshire,  predeceased  her  father.  Since 
the  manuscripts  came  into  the  possession  of 
Mrs.  Fenwick,  portions  have  been  sold  by  private 
arrangement  to  several  of  the  foreign  govern- 
ments ;  amongst  these,  however,  were  no  English 
ones.  A  large  number  of  the  remainder  nave 
been  disposed  of  by  auction  at  a  series  of  sales 
by  Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hodge,  but  the 
immense  collection  is  by  no  means  exhausted. 
The  first  sale  took  place  on  August  3rd,  1886, 
and  seven  following  days ;  and  the  others  on 
January    22nd,    1889,   and    two   following   days; 

1  Athenaum%  February  17,  1872. 


SIR  THOMAS  PHILLIPPS  371 

July  15th,  1891,  and  following  day;  December 
7th,  1 89 1,  and  following  day ;  July  4th,  1892,  and 
two  following  days ;  June  19th,  1893,  and  three 
following  days;  March  21st,  1895,  and  four 
following  days  ;  June  10th,  1896,  and  six  following 
days  ;  May  17th,  1897,  and  three  following  days  ; 
June  6th,  1898,  and  five  following  days  ;  and  June 
5th,  1899,  and  five  following  days.  The  total 
amount  realised  at  all  these  auction  sales  is 
upwards  of  thirty-six  thousand  six  hundred 
pounds.  The  printed  books  in  Phillippss  library, 
which  '  included  a  complete  set  of  the  publications 
privately  printed  by  him  at  Middle  Hill ;  im- 
portant heraldic  and  genealogical  works,  county 
histories  and  topography,  Welsh  books,  valuable 
dictionaries  and  grammars,  and  a  large  collection 
of  rare  articles  relating  to  America;  history, 
voyages  and  travels,'  were  sold  in  three  parts  by 
Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hodge  on  August  3rd, 
1886,  and  seven  following  days;  January  22nd, 
1889,  and  two  following  days;  and  December 
7th,  1 89 1,  and  following  day.  There  were  five 
thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty-two  lots  in  the 
three  sales,  which  realised  three  thousand  two 
hundred  and  fourteen  pounds,  thirteen  shillings 
and  threepence. 

About  1822  Sir  Thomas  Phillipps  set  up  a 
private  printing-press  in  Broadway  Tower, 
situated  on  his  Middle  Hill  estate,  where  he 
printed    a    large   number    of   his    manuscripts. 


372         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Among  the  more  important  of  these  were : — 
Institntiones  Clericorum  in  Comitatu  Wiltonia, 
1297-1810,  two  volumes,  1821-25,  folio;  Monu- 
mental Inscriptions  in  the  County  of  Wilton,  two 
volumes,  1822,  folio  (only  six  copies  of  this  work 
were  printed,  one  of  which  realised  fourteen 
pounds,  ten  shillings  at  the  sale  of  the  books) ; 
A  Book  of  Glamorganshire  Antiquities,  by  Rice 
Merrick,  Esq.,  1578,  now  first  published  by  Sir  T. 
Phillipps,  Bart.,  1825,  folio;  and  Collectanea  de 
Famtliis  Diver  sis  quibus  nomen  est  Phillipps,  etc., 
two  volumes,  1816-40,  folio  (a  copy  of  which 
fetched  sixteen  pounds  at  the  sale).  Phillipps  also 
printed  catalogues  of  his  manuscripts  and  printed 
books.  A  fair  but  not  complete  list  of  the  works 
will  be  found  in  Lowndes' s Bibliographer  s Manual 
of  English  Literature.  In  1862  the  printing-press 
was  removed  with  the  library  and  other  collec- 
tions to  Thirlestaine  House. 


REV.  THOMAS  CORSER,  1793- 1876 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Corser  was  the  third  son  of 
George  Corser,  banker,  of  Whitchurch,  Shrop- 
shire. He  was  born  at  Whitchurch  in  1793,  and 
received  his  early  education  first  at  the  school  of 
his  native  place,  and  afterwards  at  the  Manchester 
Grammar  School,  from  whence  he  was  admitted 


REV.  THOMAS  CORSER  $7$ 

a  commoner  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford.  He  took 
the  degree  of  B.A.  in  181 5  and  that  of  M.A.  in 
1818.  In  1816  Corser  was  ordained  to  the  curacy 
of  Condover,  near  Shrewsbury,  and  after  filling 
several  other  curacies  he  was  appointed  in  1826 
to  the  rectory  of  All  Saints'  Church,  Stand, 
Manchester,  which  living  he  held,  together 
with  the  vicarage  of  Norton-by-Daventry  in 
Northamptonshire,  for  nearly  half  a  century.  He 
died,  after  a  long  illness,  at  Stand  Rectory  on 
the  24th  of  August  1876. 

The  Rev.  T.  Corser  was  elected  a  Fellow  of 
the  Society  of  Antiquaries  in  1850,  and  he  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Chetham  Society,  for 
which  he  edited  four  works  :  Chester's  Triumph, 
James's  Iter  Lancastrense,  Robinson's  Golden 
Mirrour,  and  Collectanea  Anglo-Poetica.  The 
last-named  work,  of  which  a  portion  was  written 
by  Corser  and  the  remainder  by  James  Crossley, 
is  an  elaborate  account  of  Corser's  splendid 
collection  of  early  English  poetry. 

Corser  was  one  of  the  most  learned  and  en- 
thusiastic book-collectors  of  his  day,  and  his  noble 
library  contained,  besides  a  wonderful  collection  of 
unique  and  rare  editions  of  the  works  of  the  early 
English  poets  and  dramatists,  a  fine  block-book, 
'Apocalypsis  Sancti  Johannis,'  seven  Caxtons, 
and  a  large  number  of  books  printed  by  Machlinia, 
Wynkyn  de  Worde,  Pynson,  Notary,  Redman, 
and  other  early  English  printers.      The  library 


374        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

also  comprised  a  large  number  of  books  of 
emblems,  drolleries,  jest-books,  garlands,  and 
many  other  scarce  and  curious  works  in  all 
classes  of  literature.  Mr.  Corser  also  possessed 
a  few  choice  manuscripts. 

In  1868  Mr.  Corser,  in  consequence  of  ill 
health  and  failure  of  his  eyesight,  which  precluded 
him  from  the  further  enjoyment  of  his  book 
determined  to  part  with  his  library,  and  it  was 
sold  in  eight  parts  by  Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and 
Hodge.  The  first  portion  was  sold  on  the  28th 
of  July  1868,  and  two  following  days;  and  the 
last  portion  on  June  the  25th,  1873,  and  three 
following  days.  There  were  six  thousand  two 
hundred  and  forty-four  lots  in  the  eight  sales, 
and  the  total  amount  realised  was  nineteen 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-one  pounds. 
Catalogues,  with  the  prices,  of  all  the  sales  are 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum.  The  sums 
obtained  for  the  books  were  not  large.  The 
block-book  sold  for  four  hundred  and  forty-five 
pounds,  and  the  seven  Caxtons — the  first  edition 
of  the  Dictes  or  Sayings,  Tully  of  Old  Age, 
Knight  of  the  Tower,  Golden  Legend,  Life  of 
Our  Lady,  Speculum  Vitce  Christi,  and  Fayts 
of  Arms — realised  but  thirteen  hundred  and 
forty-three  pounds ;  the  Knight  of  the  Tower 
and  Fayts  of  Arms  fetching  the  highest  prices — 
five  hundred  and  sixty  pounds,  and  two  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds.     Several  of  the  Caxtons  were, 


REV.  THOMAS  CORSER  375 

however,  imperfect.  The  Dyalogue  of  Dives 
and  Pauper,  1493,  until  recently  believed  to 
be  the  first  dated  book  printed  by  Pynson, 
brought  one  hundred  and  four  pounds,  and 
The  Recuyles  of  the  history es  of  Troye,  1 503 ; 
Bartholomaeus  de  proprietatibus  rerum,  about 
1495;  and  The  Example  of  Vertue,  1530,  all 
printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  pounds,  sixty  pounds,  and  fifty-eight 
pounds.  Mr.  Corser's  four  Shakespeare  folios 
sold  for  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds,  forty- 
nine  pounds,  seventy-seven  pounds,  and  twelve 
pounds,  while  the  first  edition  of  the  Sonnets 
realised  forty-five  pounds,  and  the  1636  edition 
of  Venus  and  Adonis  fifty-five  pounds.  Some 
other  rare  books,  and  the  prices  obtained  for 
them,  were  the  Sarunt  Missal,  printed  at  Paris 
in  1 5 14,  eighty-seven  pounds ;  Biblia  Pauperum 
(A.  Verard,  Paris,  about  1503),  ninety-nine 
pounds;  Guy  de  Waruich  (Paris,  1525),  two 
hundred  and  eighty-two  pounds ;  unique  copy 
of  an  edition  of  Huon  of  Bordeaux,  thought  to 
have  been  printed  by  Pynson,  eighty-one  pounds  ; 
Nurcerie  of  Names,  by  Guillam  de  Warrino 
(William  Warren)  (London,  1581),  one  hundred 
pounds ;  Daye's  Daphnis  and  Chloe  (London, 
1587),  unique,  sixty  pounds;  The  Three  Ladies 
of  London,  by  W.  R.  (London,  1592),  seventy- 
six  pounds;  The  Phoenix  Nest  (London,  1593), 
sixty-four  pounds,  ten  shillings  ;  Chute's  Beawtie 


376         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Dishonoured  (London,  1593),  one  hundred  and 
ftvt  pounds ;  Maroccus  Extatiats,  or  Bankes 
Bay  Horse  (London,  1595),  one  hundred  and  ten 
pounds ;  the  first  fixe  editions  of  Walton's 
Compieat  Angler,  one  hundred  and  forty  pounds  ; 
and  twenty  early  ballads  in  black  letter,  bound  in 
a  volume,  eighty-nine  pounds. 

The  more  important  manuscripts  in  the 
collection  were  Le  Romant  des  Trots  Peleritiages, 
by  Guillaume  de  Guilleville,  written  on  vellum 
in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  ornamented  with 
many  illuminations  and  drawings,  two  hundred 
and  ten  pounds  ;  Bartholomceus  De  Proprietatibus 
Rertim,  vellum,  richly  illuminated,  fourteenth 
century,  ninety-one  pounds ;  a  Poem  on  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  by  John  Kylyngwyke,  vellum,  fourteenth 
century,  seventy  pounds  ;  Lyf  of  Oure  Lady,  by 
John  Lydgate,  fifteenth  century,  written  and 
illuminated  on  vellum,  forty-six  pounds ;  and 
Officium  Beatce  Maria  Virginis,  fifteenth  century, 
illuminated,  sixty-four  pounds. 

Some  additional  manuscripts  and  books  which 
had  belonged  to  Mr.  Corser  were  sold  after  his 
death,  at  Manchester,  by  Capes,  Dunn  and  Pilcher 
on  December  the  13th,  1876,  and  two  following 
days.  These  realised  one  thousand  four  hundred 
and  eight  pounds,  sixteen  shillings  and  sixpence. 
Among  them  was  the  original  manuscript  of 
Cavendish's  Ufe  of  JVolsey,  which  fetched  sixty 
guineas. 


DAVID  LAING  377 

DAVID  LAING,  1793-1878 

David  Laing,  the  eminent  Scottish  antiquary, 
was  the  second  son  of  William  Laing,  a  book- 
seller in  Edinburgh,  and  was  born  in  that  city 
on  the  20th  of  April  1793.  He  was  educated 
at  the  Canongate  Grammar  School,  and  after- 
wards attended  the  Greek  classes  of  Professor 
Dalzel  at  the  Edinburgh  University.1  At  an 
early  age  he  was  apprenticed  to  his  father,  and 
in  the  year  182 1  he  entered  into  partnership  with 
him.  His  father  died  in  1832,  and  David  Laing 
continued  to  carry  on  the  business  until  1837, 
when,  having  been  elected  librarian  to  the  Society 
of  Writers  to  H.M.  Signet,  he  gave  it  up,  and 
disposed  of  his  stock  by  public  sale.  Laing  was 
Honorary  Secretary  of  the  Bannatyne  Club  from 
its  foundation  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  in  1823  to 
its  dissolution  thirty-eight  years  later,  and  him- 
self edited  a  large  number  of  its  publications. 
He  also  edited  papers  for  the  Spalding,  Abbots- 
ford,  and  Hunterian  Clubs,  and  the  Shakespeare 
and  Wodrow  Societies ;  while  his  contributions 
to  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries 
of  Scotland,  of  which  he  was  elected  a  Fellow 
in  1826,  consisted  of  upwards  of  one  hundred 
separate  papers.  In  1864  the  University  of 
Edinburgh  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  LL.D. 
He  died  unmarried  on  the  18th  of  October  1878. 

1  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 
3B 


378         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Laing's  life  was  one  of  great  literary  activity, 
and  although  he  did  not  produce  any  large 
original  work,  he  edited  many  of  the  writings 
of  the  old  Scottish  authors.  His  acquaintance 
with  the  early  literary  and  ecclesiastical  history, 
as  well  as  the  art  and  antiquities,  of  Scotland 
was  very  extensive ;  and  Lockhart,  in  Peters 
Letters  to  his  Kinsfolk,  states  that  he  possessed 
a  '  truly  wonderful  degree  of  skill  and  knowledge 
in  all  departments  of  bibliography.'  A  list  of 
the  various  publications  issued  under  his  editorial 
superintendence  from  1815  to  1878  inclusive, 
together  with  his  lectures  on  Scottish  art,  appear 
in  a  collection  of  privately  printed  notices  of  him 
edited  by  T.  G.  Stevenson,  Edinburgh,  1878. 

Laing  availed  himself  of  his  exceptional  op- 
portunities to  form  a  very  large  and  fine  library, 
which  was  particularly  rich  in  books  illustrative 
of  the  history  and  literature  of  Scotland,  many 
of  which  were  of  excessive  rarity,  and  several 
unique.  Nearly  every  publication  relating  to 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots  was  to  be  found  in  it. 
After  Laing's  death  his  library,  with  the  exception 
of  his  manuscripts,  which  he  bequeathed  to  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  was  sold  in  four  por- 
tions by  Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hodge. 

First  Sale — 

December  1st,  1879,  and  ten  following 
days.     Three  thousand  seven  hundred  and 


DAVID  LAING  379 

ninety-nine  lots  =  thirteen  thousand  two 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  pounds,  eight 
shillings  and  sixpence. 

Second  Sale — 

April  5th,  1880,  and  ten  following 
days.  Four  thousand  and  eighty-two 
lots  =  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
thirty-eight  pounds,  three  shillings. 

Third  Sale — 

July  20th,  1880,  and  four  following 
days.  Two  thousand  four  hundred  and 
forty-three  lots  =  seven  hundred  and 
seventy-one  pounds,  nine  shillings  and 
sixpence. 

Fourth  Sale — 

February  21st,  1881,  and  three  follow- 
ing days.  One  thousand  four  hundred 
and  nineteen  lots  =  seven  hundred  and 
thirty-eight  pounds,  eighteen  shillings. 

Large  prices  were  obtained  for  many  of  the 
books,  especially  for  the  early  ones  printed  in 
Scotland. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  rarest  of  the 
volumes,  together  with  the  amounts  for  which 
they  were  sold  : — 

A  Roman  Breviary  on  vellum,  printed  by 
N.  Jenson  at  Venice  in  1482,  and  ornamented 


380        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

with  borders  to  the  pages,  drawn  by  a  pen, 
ninety-three  pounds ;  Lo  Doctrinal  cie  Sapiensa, 
in  the  Catalan  dialect,  by  Guy  de  Roye,  printed 
about  1495,  one  hundred  pounds;  Missale  pro 
usu  totius  Regni  Norvegia*  (Haffniae,  1519),  with 
the  arms  and  cypher  of  the  King  of  Denmark 
on  the  back  of  the  binding,  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  pounds;  The  Falle  of  Princis,  etc., 
by  Boccaccio,  translated  by  John  Lydgate, 
and  printed  by  Pynson  in  1527,  seventy-eight 
pounds ;  The  Catechismc  of  Archbishop  Hamilton, 
printed  at  '  Sanct  Androus'  in  1552,  one  hundred 
and  forty-eight  pounds  ;  Tractate  concerning  ye 
Office  and  Dew  tie  of  Kyngis,  etc.,  written  by 
William  Lauder,  and  printed  by  John  Scott  at 
Edinburgh  in  1556,  seventy-seven  pounds;  Con- 
fessione  delta  Fede  Christiana,  by  Theodore 
Beza,  printed  in  1560,  containing  the  autograph 
of  Sir  James  Melville,  and  having  maria  r. 
scotorv  stamped  in  gold  on  each  cover,  one 
hundred  and  forty-nine  pounds ;  The  Forme 
and  Maner  of  Examination  before  the  Admission 
to  y  Tabill  of  y  Lord,  usit  by  y  Ministerie  of 
Edinburge  (Edinburgh,  1581),  seventy  pounds; 
the  first  edition  of  the  author's  corrected  text  of 
Don  Quixote  (Madrid,  1608),  together  with  the 
first  edition  of  the  second  part  (Madrid,  161 5), 
one  hundred  and  ninety-two  pounds ;  dedication 
copy  to  King  Charles  11.  of  the  Institutions  of 
the  Law  of  Scotland,  by,%Sir  James   Dalrymple 


DAVID  LAING  381 

of  Stair,  afterwards  Viscount  Stair,  two  volumes 
(Edinburgh,  168 1),  in  a  remarkably  fine  contem- 
porary Scotch  binding,  with  the  royal  arms  in 
gold  on  the  covers,  two  hundred  and  ninety-five 
pounds ;  a  first  edition  of  Robinson  Crusoe,  three 
volumes  (London,  1719-20),  thirty-one  pounds; 
one  of  the  twelve  copies,  printed  at  a  cost  of 
upwards  of  ten  thousand  pounds,  of  the  Botanical 
Tables  of  the  Earl  of  Bute,  nine  volumes,  with 
the  arms  of  the  Earl  impressed  in  gold  on  the 
bindings,  seventy-seven  pounds  ;  the  first  edition 
of  Burns's  Poems  (Kilmarnock,  1786),  with  lines 
in  the  autograph  of  Burns,  and  a  letter  from 
J.  G.  Lockhart,  ninety  pounds ;  and  a  fine  col- 
lection of  Scots  Ballads  and  Broadsides,  one 
hundred  and  thirty  in  number,  issued  between 
1669  and  1730,  many  of  great  rarity,  one  hundred 
and  thirty-three  pounds.  Laing  left  a  collection 
of  drawings  to  the  Royal  Scottish  Academy  of 
Painting,  of  which  he  had  been  elected  Honorary 
Professor  of  Ancient  History  and  Antiquities  in 
1856.  His  prints  were  sold  by  Sotheby,  Wilkin- 
son and  Hodge  on  the  21st  of  February  1880,  in 
two  hundred  and  thirteen  lots,  and  realised  two 
hundred  and  seventy  pounds,  thirteen  shillings. 


382        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

BERTRAM,  FOURTH  EARL  OF  ASH- 
BURNHAM,  1797-1878 

Bertram,  fourth  Earl  of  Ashburnham,  who 
was  born  on  the  23rd  of  November  1797,  and 
died  on  the  22nd  of  June  1878,  was  one  of  the 
greatest  and  most  ardent  of  English  book- 
collectors.  He  developed  a  taste  for  book-buying 
at  a  very  early  age.  It  is  said  that  his  first  pur- 
chase was  made  in  1814,  when,  a  boy  at  West- 
minster School,  he  bought  a  copy  of  the  Secretes 
of  Albertus  Magnus  for  eighteenpence  at  Ginger's 
well-known  shop  in  Great  College  Street,  and  at 
the  time  of  his  death  he  had  amassed  a  library 
which  ranked  among  the  first  in  the  kingdom. 
Magnificent  as  was  his  collection  of  printed  books, 
the  library  was  even  still  more  notable  for  the 
manuscripts  it  contained,  which  amounted  to 
nearly  four  thousand,  and  were  remarkable  for 
their  value  and  importance.  In  addition  to  those 
which  he  bought  separately,  Lord  Ashburnham 
acquired  in  1847  the  manuscripts  of  Count 
Guglielmo  Libri  for  eight  thousand  pounds,  and 
in  1849  ne  purchased  the  Stowe  manuscripts  for 
the  same  sum,  and  those  of  Jean  Barrois  for  six 
thousand  pounds.  Five  years  after  the  death  of 
Lord  Ashburnham,  his  successor,  the  present 
Earl,  offered  the  manuscripts,  for  one  hundred 
and  sixty  thousand  pounds,  to  the  Trustees  of  the 


EARL  OF  ASHBURNHAM  383 

British  Museum,  who  were  anxious  to  purchase 
them  for  that  sum.  The  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer, however,  declined  to  find  the  money  for 
the  entire  collection,  but  the  Stowe  manuscripts 
were  acquired  by  the  Government  for  forty-five 
thousand  pounds,  and  divided  between  the  British 
Museum  and  the  library  of  the  Royal  Irish 
Academy  in  Dublin.  To  the  latter  institution 
were  given  the  Irish  manuscripts  and  certain 
volumes  specially  relating  to  Ireland.  It  had 
long  been  suspected  that  many  of  the  manuscripts 
in  the  Libri  and  Barrois  collections  had  been 
abstracted  from  French  and  Italian  public 
libraries,  and  when  this  was  proved  to  have 
been  the  case,  principally  through  the  researches 
of  M.  Delisle,  the  Director  of  the  Bibliotheque 
Nationale,  it  was  arranged  between  the  Trustees 
of  the  British  Museum  and  the  French  authori- 
ties that  should  the  former  become  possessors 
of  the  manuscripts,  they  would  return  the  stolen 
volumes  for  the  sum  of  twenty-four  thousand 
pounds.  As  the  Treasury  refused  to  sanction 
the  purchase  of  the  whole  of  the  Ashburnham 
manuscripts,  this  arrangement  could  not  be 
carried  out,  and  in  1887  the  manuscripts,  one 
hundred  and  sixty-six  in  number,  stolen  from 
the  French  and  Italian  libraries,  were  bought 
by  Mr.  Karl  Triibner,  acting  as  agent  for  the 
Grand  Duke  of  Baden  and  the  German  Imperial 
authorities,  for  the  same  sum  as  the  French  had 


384         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

been  willing  to  pay  for  them.  The  primary 
object  of  this  transaction,  says  Mr.  F.  S.  Ellis 
in  his  excellent  account  of  the  library  in  Quaritch's 
Dictionary  of  English  Book-Collectors,  4  was  to 
recover  the  famous  Manesse  Liederbuch,  a 
thirteenth  century  MS.  carried  away  by  the 
French  from  Heidelberg  in  1656,  the  loss  of 
which  had  ever  since  been  regarded  as  a  national 
calamity  in  Germany.  For  ^6000  in  cash  and 
this  precious  volume,  he  handed  over  the  166 
Libri  and  Barrois  mss.  to  the  Bibliotheque 
Nationale.  By  a  simple  arithmetical  process, 
we  can  conclude  that  ,£18,000  was  the  net  cost 
to  the  German  Exchequer  of  a  single  volume  of 
old  German  ballads — the  highest  price  ever  paid 
for  a  book.'  The  stolen  manuscripts  which  were 
not  required  to  replace  those  taken  from  the 
French  libraries,  were  purchased  by  the  Italian 
Government. 

Mr.  Yates  Thompson  is  understood  to  have 
purchased  that  portion  of  the  other  manuscripts 
in  the  library  known  as  '  The  Appendix,'  for 
about  forty  thousand  pounds,  and  after  selecting 
those  he  required  for  his  own  collection,  to  have 
sent  the  remainder  to  the  auction  rooms  of 
Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hodge,  where  they  were 
sold  on  May  the  1st,  1899.  There  were  one 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  lots  in  the  sale,  which 
realised  eight  thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  pounds,  five  shillings.     The  choicest  manu- 


EARL  OF  ASHBURNHAM  385 

script  in  the  catalogue  was  an  important  text  of 
the  later  version  (1400-40)  of  '  Wycliffe's  English 
Bible,'  known  as  the  '  Bramhall  Manuscript/ 
which  was  knocked  down  to  Mr.  Quaritch  for 
seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  Other  fine 
manuscripts  were  a  copy  of  the  Historia  Eccle- 
siastica  of  the  Venerable  Bede,  written  in  the 
eighth  century ;  an  Evangeliarittm  of  the  twelfth 
century,  with  beautiful  illuminations ;  Officio, 
Liturgica,  fifteenth  century;  and  Horce  Beatce 
Maries  Virginis,  written  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
richly  illuminated.  These  realised  respectively 
two  hundred  and  thirty  pounds,  three  hundred 
pounds,  four  hundred  and  sixty-seven  pounds, 
and  three  hundred  pounds.  On  the  10th  of  June 
1 90 1  and  the  four  following  days  the  manuscripts 
in  the  Barrois  Collection,  not  previously  disposed 
of,  were  sold  by  the  same  auctioneers.  There  were 
six  hundred  and  twenty-eight  lots  in  this  sale, 
and  the  very  large  sum  of  thirty-three  thousand 
two  hundred  and  seventeen  pounds,  six  shillings 
and  sixpence  was  obtained  for  them,  the  choicest 
manuscripts  fetching  exceptionally  high  prices. 
The  manuscripts  were  of  great  importance  and 
much  interest.  Among  them  were  to  be  found 
early  copies  of  the  Gospels  and  Epistles,  and 
beautifully  illuminated  manuscripts  of  the  Latin 
and  Italian  Classics,  Books  of  Devotion,  and 
early  French  Romances  and  Chronicles.  The 
collection   also   contained   a  number   of   papers 

3c 


386         ENGLISH   HOOK  COLLECTORS 

relating  to  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and  a  valuable 
series  of  Anglo-Norman  Charters,  etc.  The  fol- 
lowing are  a  few  of  the  more  interesting  and 
valuable  manuscripts,  together  with  the  prices 
they  realised  : — Roman  du  Saint  Graalet  Lancelot 
du  Lac,  on  vellum,  in  three  folio  volumes,  with 
beautifully  painted  miniatures  and  initials,  four- 
teenth century — eighteen  hundred  pounds  ;  Psal- 
terium  Latinnm,  on  vellum,  fourteenth  century, 
with  paintings  attributed  to  Giotto — fifteen  hun- 
dred and  thirty  pounds  ;  Vie  du  vaillant  Bcrtrand 
du  Guesclin,  written  on  vellum  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  with  miniatures  in  camaieu  gris — 
fifteen  hundred  pounds ;  La  Ldgende  Dorde% 
translated  by  Jehan  de  Vignay,  fifteenth  century, 
on  vellum,  with  a  large  number  of  very  fine 
illuminated  miniatures  and  ornamental  initials — 
fifteen  hundred  pounds  ;  Chronique  Generate  dite 
de  la  Bourcachardiere,  by  Jehan  de  Courcy,  in 
two  large  folio  volumes,  on  vellum,  with  large 
illuminations,  fifteenth  century — fourteen  hundred 
and  twenty  pounds ;  Horcc  Beatce  Marice  Vir- 
ginis,  with  very  fine  illuminations,  fifteenth  cen- 
tury—eleven hundred  and  sixty  pounds  ;  Histoire 
Universelle,  on  vellum,  in  two  volumes,  with 
miniatures  in  camaieu  gris,  fifteenth  century — 
nine  hundred  and  ten  pounds ;  Dante,  vellum, 
richly  illuminated,  fourteenth  century — six  hun- 
dred and  thirty  pounds.  The  collection  of  Anglo- 
Norman  Charters  fetched  three  hundred  and  five 


EARL  OF  ASHBURNHAM  387 

pounds,  and  the  Letters  and  Papers  relating  to 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
six  pounds. 

For  upwards  of  fifty  years  Lord  Ashburn- 
ham  availed  himself  of  every  opportunity  of 
acquiring  the  finest  and  most  perfect  copies 
obtainable  of  the  rarest  and  choicest  books,  and 
he  brought  together  a  collection  of  printed 
volumes  which  was  well  worthy  of  being  associ- 
ated with  that  of  his  manuscripts.  It  was 
especially  rich  in  Bibles,  and  in  Missals,  Horse 
and  other  Service  Books,  and  in  the  early  edi- 
tions of  Dante,  Boccaccio  and  Chaucer.  Among 
the  Bibles  and  portions  of  the  Scriptures  were 
a  block-book,  a  copy  of  the  Biblia  Pauper um, 
regarded  by  Heinecken  as  the  second  edition  of 
that  work ;  vellum  and  paper  copies  of  the 
Gutenberg  Bible;  a  vellum  copy  of  the  1462 
Latin  Bible ;  a  perfect  copy  of  Tyndale's  transla- 
tion of  the  Pentateuch,  printed  at  ■  Marlborow ' 
by  Hans  Loft  in  1534;  and  the  Coverdale  Bible 
°f  x535-  Of  foreign  incunabula  there  was  a 
large  number;  of  Caxtons  a  very  goodly  list,1 
but  comparatively  few  of  them  perfect ;  and  the 
rarest  productions  of  the  press  of  St.  Albans,  and 
of  those  of  Machlinia,  Lettou,  Pynson,  Wynkyn  de 
Worde,  Copland,  and  other  early  English  printers 
were  to  be  found  in  the  library.     The  collection 

1  Eighteen  are  mentioned  in  Blades's  Life  and  Typography  of  Caxton. 
London,  1861-63. 


388        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

of  the  editions  of  the  Book  of  Hawking,  Hunting, 
etc.,  attributed  to  Dame  Juliana  Berners,  may  be 
considered  to  have  been  unique,  for  it  included 
the  Book  of  St.  Albans,  printed  in  i486,  the 
extremely  rare  edition  printed  by  Wynkyn  de 
Worde  in  1496,  the  three  editions  printed  by 
William  Copland,  those  of  William  Powell  and 
John  Waley,  and  the  only  known  copy  of  the 
first  separate  edition  of  Fysshynge  with  an  Angle, 
printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  1532.  Other 
rare  English  books  were  the  first  edition  of  the 
first  Reformed  Printer,  printed  in  1535;  an 
Abridgement  of  the  Chronicles  of  Englande, 
printed  by  Grafton  in  1570,  which  belonged  to 
Thomas  Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  was 
beheaded  in  1572,  with  an  interesting  letter 
written  by  him  on  the  blank  space  of  the  reverse 
of  the  last  leaf,  shortly  before  his  death ;  The 
Principal  Navigations,  etc.,  of  the  English 
Nation,  by  Richard  Hakluyt,  printed  in  1598- 
1600,  with  the  very  rare  map  having  the  Voyage 
of  Sir  Francis  Drake,  1577,  and  that  of  Standisn, 
1587,  and  the  original  suppressed  pages  of  the 
Voyage  to  Cadiz ;  the  four  Shakespeare  folios, 
and  the  first  five  editions  of  Walton's  Comfileat 
Angler,  in  the  original  bindings  (three  sheep 
and  two  calf)  as  issued  by  the  publisher.  Books 
also  worthy  of  special  notice  were  the  beautifully 
illuminated  copies  of  Boccaccio's  Raine  des  Nobles 
Hommes,  printed  by  Colard  Mansion  at  Bruges 


EARL  OF  ASHBURNHAM  389 

in  1476;  the  Opera  Varia  Latine  of  Aristotle, 
printed  on  vellum  by  Andrea  de  Asula  at  Venice 
in  1483 ;  and  Heures  de  la  Vierge  Marie,  also 
printed  on  vellum,  by  Geoffroy  Tory  in  1525. 
A  catalogue  of  the  more  rare  and  curious  printed 
books  in  the  library  was  privately  printed  in 
1864. 

Although  bookbindings  did  not  form  a  special 
feature  of  the  library,  Lord  Ashburnham  pos- 
sessed some  remarkably  fine  and  interesting 
examples  of  them.  That  on  a  tenth  century 
manuscript  of  the  Gospels,  which  for  many  cen- 
turies belonged  to  the  Abbey  of  Noble  Canonesses 
at  Lindau,  on  the  Lake  of  Constance,  is  one  of 
the  finest  specimens  of  gold  and  jewelled  bindings 
to  be  found  in  any  collection.  This  beautiful  work 
of  art,  the  lower  cover  of  which  is  of  the  eighth 
century  and  the  upper  of  the  ninth,  is  of  gold 
or  silver  gilt,  and  is  profusely  decorated  with 
jewels.  It  is  described  in  the  Vetusta  Monu- 
nienta  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  and  was 
shown  at  the  Exhibition  of  Bookbindings  at  the 
Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club  in  1891.1  The  col- 
lection also  contained  a  particularly  fine  mosaic 
binding,  with  doublures,  by  Monnier,  and  many 
volumes  from  the  libraries  of  Grolier,  Maioli,  the 
Emperor  Charles  v.,  De  Thou,  etc. 

Lord  Ashburnham's  printed  books  were  sold 

1  This  volume  was  recently  sold  for  the  Earl  of  Ashburnham  by  Sotheby, 
Wilkinson  and  Hodge  to  a  private  purchaser  for  ten  thousand  pounds. 


390        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

in  three  portions  in  1897  and  1898  by  Sotheby, 
Wilkinson  and  Hodge.  The  first  sale  took  place 
on  June  25th,  1897,  and  seven  following  days; 
the  second  on  December  6th,  1897,  and  five  fol- 
lowing days,  and  the  third  on  May  9th,  1898, 
and  five  following  days.  There  were  four  thou- 
sand and  seventy-five  lots  in  the  three  sales,  and 
the  total  amount  realised  was  sixty-two  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  twelve  pounds,  seven  shillings 
and  sixpence. 

Very  high  prices  were  obtained  for  the  books. 
The  Biblia  Pauperum  block-book  sold  for  a 
thousand  and  fifty  pounds ;  the  vellum  copy  of 
the  Gutenberg  Bible  for  four  thousand  pounds, 
the  largest  sum  paid  for  a  copy  of  this  Bible, 
and  the  highest  but  one  ever  given  for  a  printed 
book  (Lord  Ashburnham's  copy  on  paper  was 
sold  privately  to  Mr.  Quaritch  for  three  thousand 
pounds) ;  the  Latin  Bible  of  1462  for  fifteen 
hundred  pounds ;  and  the  Coverdale  Bible  and 
Tyndale's  Pentateuch  for  eight  hundred  and 
twenty  pounds,  and  two  hundred  pounds.  The 
illuminated  copies  of  Boccaccio's  Ruine  des  Nobles 
Hommes,  printed  by  Colard  Mansion  ;  Aristotle's 
Opera  Varia  La  tine,  printed  by  Andrea  de 
Asula;  and  the  Heures  de  la  Vierge  Marie, 
printed  by  GeofTroy  Tory,  realised  six  hundred 
and  ninety-five  pounds,  eight  hundred  pounds, 
and  eight  hundred  and  sixty  pounds. 

Of  the  Caxtons  the  Life  of  Jason  and  the 


EARL  OF  ASHBURNHAM  391 

Dictes  fetched  the  highest  prices — two  thousand 
one  hundred  pounds,  and  thirteen  hundred  and 
twenty  pounds  ;  the  former  being  the  largest  sum 
ever  paid  for  any  Caxton  book.  Three  hundred 
and  eighty-five  pounds  were  obtained  for  the 
*  Book  of  St.  Albans ' ;  one  thousand  pounds  for 
Chaucer's  Canterbury  Tales,  printed  by  Wynkyn 
de  Worde  in  1498,  believed  to  be  the  only  copy 
extant ;  and  three  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  for 
the  Treaty se  of  Fysshing  with  an  Angle,  by  the 
same  printer.  This  little  book,  which  consists 
of  sixteen  leaves,  and  without  the  covers  weighs 
about  two  ounces,  sold  for  nearly  forty-five  times 
its  weight  in  gold.  The  first  edition  of  the  Re- 
formed Primer  sold  for  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  pounds ;  Grafton's  Chronicle,  with  the  letter 
of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  for  seventy  pounds ; 
and  a  vellum  copy  of  the  Tewrdannck  for  three 
hundred  and  ten  pounds. 

The  first  folio  Shakespeare,  which  was  slightly 
imperfect,  was  bought  by  Mr.  Sotheran  for  five 
hundred  and  eighty-five  pounds,  for  presentation 
to  the  Memorial  Library,  Stratford-on-Avon. 
The  second  folio  fetched  ninety  pounds,  and  the 
third  one  hundred  and  ninety  pounds.  Hakluyt's 
Navigations  sold  for  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  pounds,  and  the  set  of  the  first  five  editions 
of  the  Compleat  Angler  for  eight  hundred  pounds. 
At  the  Corser  sale  they  realised  but  one  hundred 
and  forty  pounds.     The  copy  of  Merlin  with  the 


392         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Monnier  binding  brought  seven  hundred  and 
sixty  pounds,  and  a  collection  of  early  impres- 
sions of  sixty-two  prints  by  Albert  Diirer  three 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds. 


SIR  WILLIAM  TITE,  C.B.,  1798-1873 

Sir  William  Tite,  C.B.,  was  the  son  of  Mr. 
Arthur  Tite,  a  London  merchant.  He  was  born 
in  London  in  1798,  and  after  receiving  his  educa- 
tion at  private  schools,  became  a  pupil  of  David 
Laing,  the  architect  of  the  Custom  House.  Sir 
William  Tite  designed  many  buildings  in  London 
and  the  provinces,  and  a  considerable  number  of 
the  more  important  railway  stations ;  but  the 
work  with  which  his  name  is  especially  associated 
was  the  rebuilding  of  the  Royal  Exchange,  which 
cost  ;£  1 50,000,  and  was  opened  by  the  Queen  on 
the  28th  of  October  1844.  In  1838  he  was 
elected  President  of  the  Architectural  Society, 
and  of  the  Royal  Institute  of  British  Architects 
from  1861-63,  and  from  1867-70.  He  entered 
Parliament  in  1855  as  Member  for  Bath,  and 
continued  to  represent  that  constituency  until 
his  death.  In  1869  he  was  knighted,  and  in  the 
following  year  he  received  the  Companionship  of 
the  Bath.  Sir  William  was  a  Fellow  of  the 
Royal  Society,  and  also  of  the  Society  of  Anti- 


SIR  WILLIAM  TITE  393 

quaries.      He  died   at  Torquay  on  April   20th, 
1873,  and  was  buried  in  Norwood  Cemetery. 

Sir  William  Tite  was  an  ardent  collector  of 
manuscripts,  books,  and  works  of  art,  and  he 
formed  a  very  large  and  choice  library,  which 
contained  many  valuable  manuscripts,  and  a 
great  number  of  rare  early  English  books.  It 
was  sold  by  Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hodge, 
in  May  and  June  1874.  The  sale  occupied 
sixteen  days,  and  realised  nineteen  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  forty-three  pounds,  six  shil- 
lings. There  were  three  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  lots. 

Among  the  more  notable  manuscripts  in  the 
library  were  a  richly  illuminated  Lectionarium, 
written  on  vellum  about  a.d.  1150  at  the  monas- 
tery of  Ottenbeuren  in  Suabia,  which  sold  for 
five  hundred  and  fifty  pounds ;  a  Wycliffe  New 
Testament  on  vellum  of  the  first  half  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  which  brought  two  hundred 
and  forty-one  pounds;  a  copy  of  the  Four  Gospels 
of  about  the  same  period,  which  fetched  one  hun- 
dred and  eight  pounds ;  a  number  of  Horae  and 
other  service  books,  and  three  devotional  works 
written  by  Jarry,  the  famous  French  calligraphist. 
There  were  also  the  original  manuscripts  of 
three  of  the  novels  of  Sir  Walter  Scott — Peveril 
of  the  Peak,  the  first  volume  of  the  Tales  of  my 
Landlord  {The  Black  Dwarf),  and  Woodstock, 
which  together  realised  three  hundred  and  ninety- 

3D 


394         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

eight  pounds.  The  collection  also  contained  a 
block-book,  The  Apocalypse,  which  brought  two 
hundred  and  eighty-five  pounds ;  four  Caxtons, 
the  most  important  of  which — a  perfect  copy  of 
the  second  edition  of  the  Mirrour  of  the  World — 
sold  for  four  hundred  and  fifty-five  pounds  ;  and 
many  books  from  the  presses  of  Machlinia, 
Pynson,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  Notary,  and  other 
early  English  printers.  Shakespeare  was  well 
represented.  The  first  three  folios  were  to  be 
found  in  the  library,  as  well  as  the  first  editions 
of  Lucrece  and  the  Sonnets,  and  a  large  number 
of  the  quarto  plays.  The  first  folio  and  Lucrece 
realised  respectively  four  hundred  and  forty 
pounds  and  one  hundred  and  ten  pounds. 
There  was  also  a  choice  collection  of  the  works 
of  other  writers  of  the  time  of  Elizabeth  and 
James  i.  A  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  Don 
Quixote ;  and  a  set  of  the  first  five  editions  of 
Walton's  Compleat  Angler,  which  sold  for  sixty- 
eight  pounds,  also  deserve  especial  notice.  A 
series  of  autographs  in  thirteen  folio  volumes 
realised  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds ; 
and  the  sale  catalogue  contained  as  many  as  two 
hundred  and  fourteen  lots  of  autograph  letters  of 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  Lord  Bacon,  Cromwell, 
and  other  celebrities. 

Sir  William  Tite  was  the  author  of  a  '  Report 
of  a  Visit  to  the  Estates  of  the  Honourable  Irish 
Society   in   Londonderry  and    Coleraine  in   the 


JAMES  THOMSON  GIBSON-CRAIG      395 

year  1834,'  and  of  a  '  Descriptive  Catalogue  of 
the  Antiquities  found  in  the  Excavations  at  the 
New  Royal  Exchange,'  which  he  published  in 
1848.  Several  of  his  papers  and  addresses,  which 
principally  treated  of  bibliographical  or  antiquarian 
subjects,  were  privately  printed.  He  was  a 
liberal  promoter  of  all  schemes  for  the  advance- 
ment of  education,  and  he  founded  the  Tite 
Scholarship  in  the  City  of  London  School. 


JAMES  THOMSON  GIBSON-CRAIG, 
1 799- 1 886 

Mr.  James  Thomson  Gibson-Craig,  who  was 
born  in  March  1799,  was  the  second  son  of 
Mr.  James  Gibson,  the  political  reformer,  who,  on 
succeeding  under  entail  to  the  Riccarton  estates 
in  1823,  assumed  the  name  of  Craig,  and  in  1831 
was  created  a  baronet.  He  was  educated  at  the 
High  School  and  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
and  after  spending  some  time  in  foreign  travel,  he 
became  a  Writer  to  the  Signet,  and  joined  the 
firm  afterwards  known  as  Gibson-Craig,  Dalziel 
and  Brodies,  of  Edinburgh,  of  which  he  continued 
a  member  until  about  the  year  1875.  Mr.  Gibson- 
Craig  was  well  known  for  his  literary  and  anti- 
quarian tastes,  and  it  was  principally  owing  to 
his  exertions  that  the  Historical  Manuscripts  of 
Scotland  were  reproduced  and  issued  during  the 


396        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

time  his  brother,  Sir  William  Gibson-Craig,  held 
the  office  of  Lord  Clerk  Register.  He  was  a 
friend  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  of  Lord  Jeffrey,  and 
Lord  Cockburn,  and  at  a  later  period  of  Lord 
Macaulay ;  and  he  was  also  intimate  with  most 
of  the  principal  Scottish  artists  and  antiquaries 
of  his  time.  He  died  at  Edinburgh  on  the  18th 
of  July  1886.  Mr.  Gibson-Craig,  who  began 
to  collect  during  his  student  days,  formed  an 
extensive  and  valuable  library  of  choice  books, 
many  of  which  were  bound  by  celebrated  binders, 
and  were  once  to  be  found  in  such  famous 
libraries  as  those  of  Grolier,  Canevari,  Diana  of 
Poitiers,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  Robert  Dudley, 
Earl  of  Leicester,  De  Thou,  Count  von  Hoym, 
Longepierre,  and  Madame  de  Pompadour.  After 
his  death  his  collection  was  sold  by  Sotheby, 
Wilkinson  and  Hodge  in  three  portions.  The 
first  portion  was  sold  on  June  the  27th,  1887,  and 
nine  following  days ;  the  second  on  March  the 
23rd,  1888,  and  five  following  days,  and  on  April 
6th  and  eight  following  days ;  and  the  third  on 
November  the  15th,  1888,  and  two  following 
days.  There  were  altogether  nine  thousand  four 
hundred  and  four  lots,  and  the  amount  realised 
was  fifteen  thousand  five  hundred  and  nine 
pounds,  four  shillings  and  sixpence. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  more  notable 
books  and  manuscripts  in  the  collection,  and  the 
prices  obtained  for  them  : — 


JAMES  THOMSON  GIBSON-CRAIG      397 

Bartholomcei  Camerarii  de  Prcedestinatione 
dialogi  tres.  Parisiis,  1556.  Bound  in  white 
morocco,  the  sides  blind-tooled  with  the  various 
emblems  of  Diana  of  Poitiers,  and  the  initial  of 
Henry  11. ,  King  of  France,  surmounted  by  a 
crown.  In  the  centre  of  the  upper  cover  are  the 
words  conseqvitvr  qvod  cvnqve  petit,  and 
on  the  lower  cover  nihil  amplivs  optat.  One 
hundred  and  forty-six  pounds. 

Cronique  de  Savoye,  par  Maistre  Guillaume 
Paradin.  Lyon,  1552.  This  volume  formerly 
belonged  to  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  It  is  in  the 
original  calf  binding,  and  has  in  the  centre  of 
each  cover  a  shield  bearing  the  arms  of  Scotland, 
surmounted  by  a  crown,  with  a  crowned  M  above, 
below,  and  on  each  side  of  them,  as  well  as  at 
the  corners  of  the  book,  and  also  on  the  panels 
of  the  back.    Two  hundred  and  sixty-five  pounds. 

Larismetique  et  Geometrie  de  Estienne  de  la 
Roche.  Lyon,  1538.  The  binding  bears  the 
arms  of  James  Hepburn,  Earl  of  Bothwell,  third 
husband  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  Eighty-one 
pounds. 

The  XIII.  Bukes  of  Eneados,  translated  out 
of  Latyne  verses  into  Scottish  metir  bi  Mayster 
Gawin  Douglas,  Bishop  of  Dunkel,  and  unkil  to 
the  Erie  of  Angus.  [W.  Copland],  London, 
I553-     Seventy-five  pounds,  ten  shillings. 

Poliphili  Hypneroto?nachia.  Aldus,  Venetiis, 
1499.     Ninety  pounds. 


398         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

Tewrdannck.  Augsburg,  1519.  Thirty-nine 
pounds. 

Walton's  Compieat  Angler.  First  edition. 
London,  1653. 

Cotton's  Complete  Angler.  First  edition. 
London,  1676.  Together,  one  hundred  and 
ninety-five  pounds. 

Burns's  Poems.  Kilmarnock,  1786.  One 
hundred  and  eleven  pounds. 

The  more  important  of  the  manuscripts 
were : — 

Horce  B.  Maria  Virginis,  written  in  the 
thirteenth  century  on  vellum  by  an  Anglo-Saxon 
or  Scottish  scribe.  Three  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  pounds. 

The  First  and  Second  Series  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott's  Chronicles  of  the  Canongate.  An  auto- 
graph manuscript  presented  by  the  author  to 
R.  Cadell.     One  hundred  and  forty-one  pounds. 

A  collection  of  valuable  and  interesting  corre- 
spondence and  memoranda  relating  to  the 
Rebellion  of  17 15,  comprising  many  of  the 
original  letters  and  despatches  from  the  Earl  of 
Mar,  etc.     Ninety-nine  pounds. 

In  1882  Mr.  Gibson-Craig  issued,  in  an  edition 
of  twenty-five  copies,  Facsimiles  of  Old  Book 
Binding  in  his  collection ;  and  in  the  following 
year  a  facsimile  reprint  of  the  Shorte  Summe  of 
the  whole  Catechisme,  by  his  ancestor  John  Craig, 
accompanied    by  a    memoir  of    the  author  by 


EARL  OF  CRAWFORD  399 

Thomas  Graves  Law,  of  the  Signet  Library.  He 
also  printed  for  the  Bannatyne  Club  '  Papers 
relative  to  the  marriage  of  King  James  the  Sixth 
of  Scotland  with  the  Princess  Anna  of  Denmark 
a.d.  mdlxxxix,  and  the  Form  and  Manner  of 
Her  Majesty's  Coronation  at  Holyroodhouse 
a.d.  mdxc' 

ALEXANDER  WILLIAM,  TWENTY- 
FIFTH  EARL  OF  CRAWFORD, 
1812-1880 

It  is  about  three  hundred  years  since  the  founder 
of  the  Bibliotheca  Lindesiana  died.  John  Lindsay, 
the  Octavian,  better  known  by  his  title  of  Lord 
Menmuir,  the  ancestor  of  the  Earls  of  Balcarres, 
had  a  distinguished  though  but  brief  career.  He 
was  not  quite  forty-seven  years  old  when  he  died. 
During  his  short  though  eventful  life  he  took  a 
leading  part  in  State  affairs,  being  much  trusted 
by  his  Sovereign,  King  James  vi.  He  was  a 
man  of  varied  talents — lawyer,  statesman,  man 
of  business,  scholar,  man  of  letters,  and  a  poet. 
He  seems  to  have  been  familiar  with  Greek, 
and  to  have  corresponded  in  the  Latin  language. 
Besides  these  he  acquired  a  knowledge  of  French, 
Italian  and  Spanish.  He  accumulated  many 
State  papers  and  letters  from  distinguished  per- 
sons   both  at   home  and   abroad.     These,   now 

1  Mainly  contributed  by  Mr.  J.  P.  Edmond,  Librarian  to  Lord  Crawford. 


4oo        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 


known  as  '  the  Balcarres  Papers,'  were  presented 
by  Colin,  Earl  of  Balcarres,  to  the  Advocates' 
Library  in  171 2.  A  summary  account  of  them  is 
given  in  the  First  Report  of  the  Historical  Manu- 
scripts Commission.     Lord  Menmuir's  library  is 

now  represented  at  Haigh*  by 
two  volumes  and  three  frag- 
ments, all  of  which  bear  his 
autograph.  Lord  Menmuir 
was  succeeded  by  a  son, 
who  died  whilst  yet  a  youth 
and  unmarried.  The  second 
son,  David,  who  after  his 
brother's  death  inherited  the 
estate  of  Balcarres,  may 
be  termed  the  second 
founder  of  the  library.  The  father's  love  of 
books  and  learning  seems  to  have  in  a  very 
large  measure  descended  to  the  son.  He  added 
to  the  library  until  it  became  one  of  the  best  in 
the  kingdom.  A  very  charming  letter  from 
William  Drummond  of  Hawthornden  to  David 
Lindsay,  sent  with  a  copy  of  the  Flowers  of  Zion, 
which  the  poet  had  privately  printed,  is  clear 
evidence  of  the  terms  on  which  Lindsay  lived 
with  his  friends  and  fellow  book-lovers.  The 
original  letter  is  preserved  in  the  Muniment 
Room  at  Haigh,  but  the  identical  copy  of  Drum- 
mond's  work  has,  alas !  been  lost  sight  of. 

1  Lord  Crawford's  Seat,  near  Wigan. 


The  small  Book-stamp  of  the 
first  Lord  Balcarres. 


EARL  OF  CRAWFORD  401 

The  library  of  Sir  David  Lindsay,  Lord 
Balcarres,  continued  at  the  family  seat  on  the 
shores  of  the  Firth  of  Forth  until  comparatively 
recent  times.  Sibbald  in  17 10  mentions  the 
'great  bibliothek'  at  Balcarres.  In  Sibbald's 
time  the  owner,  Colin,  third  Earl  of  Balcarres, 
had  added  many  books  to  the  library,  and  spent 
the  evening  of  his  days  in  the  pursuit  of  letters. 
When  Lady  Balcarres,  great-grandmother  of  the 
present  Earl  of  Crawford,  left  Fife  and  removed 
to  Edinburgh,  whilst  her  son  was  in  the  West 
Indies,  the  greater  portion  of  the  library  was 
literally  thrown  away  and  dispersed — torn  up  for 
grocers  as  useless  trash,  by  her  permission.  Of  the 
library  collected  by  generations  of  Lindsays,  all 
that  now  remains  is  a  handful  of  little  over  fifty 
volumes.  The  books  of  David  Lindsay,  first 
Lord  Balcarres,  who  died  in  1641 ,  are  recognisable 
from  his  signature,  and  on  many  of  them  his 
arms  are  impressed  in  gold  on  the  sides. 

Of  the  present  library  at  Haigh,  the  nucleus 
of  it  may  be  said  to  be  the  books  inherited  by 
the  grandfather  of  the  present  Earl,  whose  wife 
was  the  heiress  of  the  first  Baron  Muncaster. 
These  Muncaster  books,  although  not  of  the 
greatest  value,  formed  a  basis  on  which  the  late 
Earl  of  Crawford,  who  was  born  in  181 2,  built  up 
the  present  library,  which  will  be  always  asso- 
ciated with  his  memory.  When  a  boy  he  was 
fired  with  enthusiasm  for  books,  and  determined 

3E 


402 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


to  form  a  great  library  in  which  every  branch  of 
human  knowledge  in  every  language  should  have 
a  place.  He  began  collecting  about  1826,  shortly 
after  going  to  Eton,  and  continued  most  assidu- 


The  large  Book-stamp  of  the  first  Lord  Balcarres. 

ously  to  gather  of  all  that  was  best  until  his 
death  in  1880.  His  success  may  be  judged  in 
some  measure  by  the  remarkable  collections  dis- 
persed in  1887  and  1889,  which  together  consisted 


EARL  OF  CRAWFORD  403 

of  three  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  lots, 
and  realised  twenty-six  thousand  three  hundred 
and  ninety-seven  pounds,  fourteen  shillings. 
Family  burdens  rendered  it  needful  for  the  present 
possessor  of  the  library  to  put  his  hands  on  some 
available  assets,  and  this  necessity  coming  at 
a  period  of  great  commercial  depression,  a 
portion  of  the  literary  treasures  unfortunately 
suffered.  But  the  work  was  again  renewed,  and 
the  present  state  of  the  library  will  not  com- 
pare ignobly  with  its  past.  The  number  of 
manuscripts  is  very  considerable,  probably  about 
six  thousand,  not  a  few  of  which  are  of  the 
greatest  interest  and  value,  many  of  them  having 
covers  of  the  precious  metals  or  carved  ivory, 
enriched  with  gems  and  crystals.  There  are 
also  many  papyri,  a  great  number  of  Oriental 
manuscripts,  collections  of  French  autograph 
letters  of  the  Revolutionary  and  Napoleonic 
periods,  and  of  English  autograph  letters.  The 
printed  books  amount  to  about  one  hundred 
thousand,  and  among  them  are  to  be  found 
several  block-books  and  a  large  number  of  incu- 
nabula, including  books  printed  by  Caxton, 
Machlinia,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  Pynson,  Rood, 
and  other  early  English  printers.  The  library 
is  particularly  rich  in  the  productions  of  the 
early  Italian  presses,  especially  those  of  Rome 
and  Venice ;  and  it  also  contains  a  fine  collec- 
tion of  rare  works  on  the  languages  of  North 


4o4         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

and  South  America,  many  of  them  printed 
in  Mexico  and  Lima,  and  a  series  of  books 
printed  in  Aberdeen  from  1622  to  1736.  Of 
other  printed  matter  there  are  collections  of 
broadside  ballads  ;  broadside  proclamations  illus- 
trative of  English,  French,  Dutch,  German  and 
Italian  history;  a  long  series  of  Papal  Bulls; 
early  English  newspapers  from  1631  to  the 
Restoration ;  Civil  War  tracts ;  tracts  by,  for 
and  against  Martin  Luther;  newspapers  and 
periodicals  published  during  the  various  French 
revolutions ;  and  a  large  number  of  caricatures 
issued  in  France  and  Germany  during  the  Second 
Empire  and  the  Commune. 

It  is  not  an  easy  task  to  pick  out  the  choicest 
gems  from  the  abundant  treasures  of  this  splendid 
collection,  but  the  following  are  a  few  of  the 
most  interesting  and  valuable  of  the  manuscripts  : 

A  Legal  Instrument  of  Donation  from  Johan- 
nes, the  Primicerius,  or  Captain  of  a  company  of 
soldiers,  to  the  Church  of  Ravenna ;  written  on 
papyrus,  probably  about  a.d.  580-600,  at  Ravenna. 
Five  feet  four  inches  long  by  eleven  and  a  half 
inches  broad. 

The  Four  Gospels  in  Syriac,  in  the  original 
Peshitto  version,  written  on  vellum  about  550. 

St.  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  Epistolce 
et  Opuscula,  written  in  the  seventh  or  eighth 
century  in  rude  Merovingian  characters,  often 
mixed   with   uncial    letters.     One   of  the  oldest 


EARL  OF  CRAWFORD  405 

manuscripts  in  existence  of  this  Father  of  the 
Church. 

The  Four  Gospels  in  Latin,  written  about  850. 

A  Textus  or  Book  of  the  Gospels,  pro- 
bably written  at  the  Benedictine  monastery  of 
St.  Gall,  Switzerland,  in  the  ninth  or  tenth 
century.  In  the  centre  of  the  upper  cover,  which 
is  intended  to  be  used  as  a  pax  at  Mass,  is  an 
ivory  panel  of  the  Crucifixion,  with  figures  of  the 
Virgin  Mary  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist.  The 
border  is  of  gilt  copper  engraved  with  a  floriated 
pattern,  and  studded  with  silver  bosses  and 
jewels ;  at  the  corners  are  Limoges  enamel 
plaques  with  the  four  Evangelists.  The  ivory 
carving  is  of  the  tenth  or  eleventh  century,  the 
border  early  thirteenth. 

The  New  Testament  in  Syriac:  the  Gospels 
of  the  Peshitto  version,  and  the  remaining  books 
of  the  Heraclean  version,  written  about  1000. 
Remarkable  as  being  the  only  complete  Syriac 
New  Testament  of  any  antiquity  in  any  library 
in  Europe. 

The  Old  Testament  in  Latin,  written  by  a 
German  scribe  in  the  eleventh  century.  The 
upper  cover  consists  of  a  carved  ivory  panel  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  with  a  border  of  silver 
gilt,  decorated  with  filigree  work  and  figures  in 
repousse*,  and  enriched  with  crystals  en  cabochon. 

St.  Beatus,  Comment arius  in  Apocalypsim, 
written  in  Spain  about  11 50;  with  one  hundred 


4o6         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

and  ten  very  large  miniatures  and  a  circular 
map  of  the  world. 

Bible  Historide,  executed  in  the  south  of 
France  about  1250;  a  series  of  full-page  paint- 
ings on  a  background  of  burnished  gold,  repre- 
senting scenes  from  the  Book  of  Genesis. 

Psalterium,  written  in  Paris  about  1260.  This 
volume  belonged  at  one  time  to  Joan  of 
Navarre,  Queen  Consort  of  Henry  iv.,  King  of 
England,  whose  autograph  is  on  one  of  the 
blank  leaves. 

Roman  de  la  Rose,  written  for,  and  presented 
to,  Christina  de  Lindesay,  Dame  de  Coucy,  1323. 

Rime  di  Petrarca  et  Canqoni  di  Dante.  One 
of  the  most  important  manuscripts  of  the  two 
poets,  written  during  the  lifetime  of  Petrarch,  or 
immediately  after  his  death,  by  Paul  the  Scribe 
for  Lorenzo,  the  son  of  Carlo  degli  Strozzi,  a  mem- 
ber of  one  of  the  noblest  families  of  Florence. 

Lydgate's  Siege  of  Troy,  probably  written 
for  William  Carent,  of  Carent's  Court,  in  the 
Isle  of  Purbeck,  about  1420.  The  volume  has 
illuminated  borders  and  seventy  miniatures,  and 
bears  the  arms  of  Carent  at  the  end. 

Missale  Romanum,  six  volumes  folio,  written 
on  vellum  in  15 10- 17  for  Cardinal  Pompeo 
Colonna.  The  tradition  handed  down  by  the 
family  was  that  the  large  full-page  illuminations 
with  which  the  manuscript  is  adorned  were 
executed  by  Raphael  about  the  year  151 7,  when 
the  owner  was  made  a  cardinal;    and  there  is 


EARL  OF  CRAWFORD  407 

no  doubt  that,  if  not  actually  by  his  hand,  the 
work  was  done  by  his  followers  under  his  super- 
vision. In  all  probability,  we  may  say  that  the 
large  miniatures  are  painted  by  Timoteo  Viti, 
and  the  illuminations  and  arabesques  by  Litti 
di  Filippo  de'  Corbizi.1 

Some  of  the  more  notable  of  the  incunabula 
are  two  block-books — the  first  Dutch  edition  of 
the  Speculum  Hurnance  Salvationis,  and  a  copy 
of  the  Ars  Memorativa  printed  before  1474-75. 
Cicero,  Officiorum  libri  tres,  printed  at  Mentz  by 
Fust  and  SchoefTer  in  1465.  Lactantius,  Opera, 
printed  in  the  Monastery  of  Subiaco,  near  Rome, 
by  Sweynheym  and  Pannartz  in  1465.  Higden's 
Polychronicon  and  the  Boke  of  Eneydos,  printed 
by  Caxton  in  1482  and  1490.  The  Chronicles  of 
England  and  the  Speculum  Christiani,  printed 
by  Machlinia.  Lyndewode,  Constitutiones  pro- 
vinciates ecclesice  anglicance,  printed  at  Oxford 
by  Rood  and  Hunte  in  1483-85.  The  Croniclis 
of  Englode  with  the  frute  of  timis,  from  the 
St.  Albans  press. 

Among  other  books  of  later  dates  deserving 
of  special  notice  may  be  mentioned — Vespucci, 
Paesi  novamente  retrovati,  Vicenza,  1507.  The 
first  and  very  rare  edition  of  the  celebrated  Thesis 
of  Luther  against  the  system  of  indulgences, 
which  he  affixed  to  the  gate  of  the  University  of 
Wittemberg,  151 7.     Huon  of  Bordeaux,  printed 

1  Since  the  above  was  printed  it  has  been  announced  that  Lord  Crawford's 
MSS.  have  become  by  purchase  the  property  of  Mrs.  Rylands  of  Manchester. 


4o8         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  about  1534 — believed  to 
be  unique.  Archbishop  Parker's  De  Antiquitatc 
BritanniccB  Ecclesia,  London,  1572.  A  magni- 
ficent set  of  De  Bry's  Grands  et  Pettis  Voyages, 
in  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  volumes,  1590- 
1644.  A  Booke  containing  all  such  Proclama- 
tions as  were  published  during  the  Raigne  of 
Elizabeth  (and  James  1.) ;  collected  by  Humphrey 
Dyson,  London,  161 8.  The  first  and  second 
Shakespeare  folios.  Three  copies  of  the  first 
edition  of  Milton's  Paradise  Lost,  with  the  first, 
third  and  fourth  title-pages. 

The  immense  collection  of  broadsides  forms 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  this 
magnificent  library.  In  volume  iv.  p.  201  of 
the  Transactions  of  the  Bibliographical  Society, 
published  in  1898,  Lord  Crawford  informs  us 
that  '  in  the  last  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  he  had 
managed  to  collect  something  like  nineteen 
thousand  of  them,  including  English,  French, 
German  and  Venetian  Proclamations  (3000), 
Papal  Bulls  (11,000)  and  English  Ballads  (3000).' 
Among  them  are  several  very  rare  indulgences 
printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  and  Pynson,  and 
a  large  number  of  proclamations  and  ballads  of 
special  interest  and  value,  far  too  numerous  to 
mention. 

The  present  Earl  of  Crawford,  who  is  a  Trustee 
of  the  British  Museum,  President  of  the  Camden 
Society,  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  and  the 


HENRY  HUTH  409 

Society  of  Antiquaries,  and  who  was  formerly 
President  of  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society,  has 
printed  catalogues  of  the  English  broadsides  and 
ballads,  and  of  the  Chinese  books  and  manu- 
scripts in  his  collection,  together  with  hand-lists 
to  the  Oriental  manuscripts,  the  early  editions  of 
the  Greek  and  Latin  writers,  and  the  proclama- 
tions issued  by  authority  of  the  kings  and  queens 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  He  has  also  printed 
collations  and  notes  of  some  of  the  rare  books  in 
the  library. 


HENRY  HUTH,  1815-1878 

Mr.  Henry  Huth,  who  was  born  in  London  in 
1815,  was  the  third  son  of  Mr.  Frederick  Huth  of 
Hanover,  who  settled  at  Corunna,  in  Spain ;  but 
on  the  occupation  of  that  town  by  the  French  in 
1809  he  came  to  England,  where  he  became  a 
naturalised  British  subject,  and  founded  the  well- 
known  firm  which  is  still  carried  on  by  his 
descendants.  Mr.  Henry  Huth,  we  are  informed 
in  the  preface  to  the  Catalogue  of  the  Huth 
Library,  written  by  his  son,  Mr.  Alfred  Henry 
Huth,  was  intended  for  the  Indian  Civil  Service, 
and  was  sent  to  Mr.  Rusden's  school  at  Leith 
Hill  in  Surrey,  where  he  '  learned  Greek,  Latin, 
and  French  (Spanish  was  his  mother-tongue),  and 
had  also  got  well  on  with  Hindustani,  Persian, 

3F 


4io        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

and  Arabic ';  but  in  1833,  the  East  India  Company 
having  lost  their  Charter,  his  father  removed  him 
from  the  school  and  took  him  into  his  business. 
Office-work  proving  distasteful  to  him,  he  travelled 
for  some  years  on  the  Continent  and  in  America, 
rejoining  his  father's  firm  as  partner  in  1849. 
From  his  early  years  Mr.  Henry  Huth  had  been 
a  collector  of  books,  and  on  his  return  home  he 
set  energetically  to  work  to  form  that  splendid 
library  which  ranks  among  the  finest  in  England, 
and  which  has  been  carefully  preserved  and 
augmented  by  his  son,  Mr.  Alfred  Henry  Huth. 
Mr.  Henry  Huth  gave  commissions  at  most  of 
the  important  book-sales,  and  we  are  told  that 
1  he  called  daily  at  all  the  principal  booksellers  on 
his  way  back  from  the  city,  a  habit  which  he  con- 
tinued up  to  the  day  of  his  death/  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Philobiblon  Society,  and  in  1867 
printed  for  presentation  to  the  members  a  volume 
of  Ancient  Ballads  and  Broadsides  published  in 
England  in  the  Sixteenth  Century,  reprinted  from 
the  unique  original  copies  he  had  bought  at  the 
Daniel  sale.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Roxburghe  Club.  Mr.  Huth  died  on  the  10th  of 
December  1878,  and  was  buried  in  the  church- 
yard of  Bolney,  in  Sussex.  He  married  Augusta 
Louisa  Sophia,  third  daughter  of  Frederick 
Westenholz  of  Waldenstein  Castle,  in  Austria, 
by  whom  he  had  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 
Among  the  treasures  in  Mr.   Huth's  library 


HENRY  HUTH  411 

are  block-books  of  the  Ars  Moriendi,  Ars 
Memorandi,  and  the  Apocalypse ;  the  superb 
copy  of  the  Gutenberg  Bible  which  was  formerly 
in  the  libraries  of  Sir  M.  Masterman  Sykes  and 
Mr.  Henry  Perkins ;  two  copies  of  the  Fust  and 
Schoeffer  Bible  of  1462,  one  on  vellum ;  and  a 
particularly  fine  copy  of  St.  Augustine's  De 
Civitate  Dei,  printed  at  Rome  in  1468.  The 
collection  also  comprises  several  of  the  pre- 
Reformation  German  Bibles ;  the  first  edition 
of  Luther's  Bible;  the  Coverdale  Bible  of  1535, 
and  the  Icelandic  Bible  printed  at  Holum  in 
1584;  together  with  upwards  of  one  hundred 
other  Bibles,  a  large  number  of  New  Testaments, 
and  various  portions  of  the  Scriptures  in  all 
languages. 

In  books  from  the  presses  of  Caxton  and 
other  early  English  printers  the  library  is  re- 
markably rich.  It  contains  no  less  than  twelve 
Caxtons ;  about  fifty  Wynkyn  de  Wordes,  of 
which  several  are  unique ;  sixteen  Pynsons,  and 
a  Machlinia.  A  vellum  copy — the  only  one 
known — of  the  Fructus  Temporum,  printed  at 
St.  Albans  about  1483  ;  and  the  Exposicio  Sancti 
Jeronimi  in  Symbolum  Apostolorum,  printed  at 
Oxford,  and  bearing  the  date  1468  (a  typo- 
graphical error  for  1478),  are  also  found  on  its 
shelves. 

Among  the  books  printed  by  Caxton  are  the 
first  editions  of  The  Dictes  or  Sayings  of  the 


4i2         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

l^hilosopliers,  Chaucer's  Canterbury  Talcs,  'fully 
of  Old  Age,  Gower's  Confess io  si  mantis,  and 
Christine  de  Pisan's  Fayts  of  Anns. 

The  books  from  the  presses  of  foreign  printers 
are  both  numerous  and  fine.  Some  of  the  most 
notable  examples  are  the  Dantes  of  Foligno  and 
Mantua,  both  printed  in  the  year  1472;  the  first 
edition  of  Homer,  printed  at  Venice  in  1488;  a 
magnificent  copy  on  thick  paper,  with  the  original 
binding,  of  the  Poliphili  Hypnerotomachia, 
printed  by  Aldus  at  Venice  in  1499;  the  Aldine 
Virgil  of  1 50 1,  with  the  book-plate  of  Bilibald 
Pirkheimer ;  and  two  copies  of  the  Tewrdannck, 
one  on  vellum,  printed  at  Nuremberg  in  151 7. 
There  is  also  a  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  Don 
Quixote,  with  the  Privilege  only  for  Madrid. 

Few  collections  are  richer  than  the  Huth 
Library  in  old  English  poetry  and  dramatic 
literature.  It  contains  the  first  four  folio  Shake- 
speares,  and  a  goodly  gathering  of  quarto  plays, 
many  of  which  were  acquired  at  the  Daniel  sale 
in  1864.  Among  them  are  the  first  editions  of 
Richard  II.  and  Richard  III,  printed  in  1597; 
Henry  V.,  Much  Ado  about  Nothing,  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream,  and  the  Merchant  of  Venice,  all 
printed  in  1600;  the  first  sketch  of  The  Merry 
Wives  of  Windsor,  printed  in  1602  ;  the  second 
edition  of  Ha?nlet,  printed  in  1604;  and  the  first 
editions  of  Pericles,  printed  in  1609,  and  Othello, 
printed  in  1622.     Other  rare  Shakespeareana  are 


HENRY  HUTH  413 

the  first  editions  of  Lucrece,  the  Sonnets,  and  the 
Poems,  printed  respectively  in  1594,  1609,  and 
1640.  It  is  only  possible  to  mention  a  few  of  the 
rare  English  books  in  this  grand  library ;  but 
the  Hundred  Merry  Tales,  published  by  Rastell 
about  1525;  the  unique  copy  of  Munday's  Banquet 
of  Daintie  Conceits,  printed  in  1588;  a  first  folio 
of  Ben  Jonson's  Works  on  large  paper,  of  which 
only  one  other  copy  is  known  in  that  state,  and 
a  perfect  set  of  the  editions  of  Walton's  Compleat 
Angler  from  1653  to  1760,  cannot  be  passed 
over  without  notice.  The  unique  collection  of 
Elizabethan  ballads,  to  which  reference  has  already 
been  made,  would  be  considered  a  great  treasure 
in  any  library.  The  collection  of  Voyages  and 
Travels  is  believed  to  be  the  richest  private 
one  in  Europe.  It  comprises  the  early  letters  of 
Columbus  and  Vesputius,  and  perfect  editions 
of  De  Bry,  Hulsius,  Hakluyt,  Purchas,  etc.,  to- 
gether with  the  voyages  of  Cortes,  Drake,  and 
other  famous  travellers. 

The  fine  and  large  collection  of  manuscripts 
contains  many  choice  and  interesting  examples. 
Several  beautifully  written  Bibles,  and  a  number 
of  Books  of  Hours  are  to  be  found  in  it.  Some 
of  the  latter  are  most  charmingly  illuminated ; 
two  of  them,  written  in  the  fifteenth  century,  of 
Flemish  execution,  are  especially  good.  One  of 
these  contains  the  coats  of  arms  of  Philip  the 
Good,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  Isabella  his  wife. 


4i4        ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

There  are  also  three  handsomely  illuminated 
Petrarchs,  and  a  remarkable  manuscript  on 
vellum  in  four  volumes,  with  very  beautiful 
illustrations  of  beasts,  birds,  fish,  and  insects, 
painted  by  George  Hoefnagel  for  the  Emperor 
Rudolph  ii.  A  collection  of  Madrigals  for  three 
voices,  the  words  by  John  Milton,  Thomas 
Tompkins,  and  others,  is  of  especial  interest,  for 
Mr.  A.  H.  Huth  informs  us  that  several  of  the 
songs  by  Milton  in  it  have  never  been  published, 
and  that  he  composed  some  of  the  music. 

The  library  also  contains  a  considerable 
number  of  interesting  letters,  and  a  very  fine 
collection  of  engravings ;  the  series  by  Albert 
Diirer  being  nearly  complete.  A  somewhat 
recent  addition  to  the  collection  is  '  a  proof  set 
before  numbers  of  the  engravings  to  the  Landino 
Dante  of  1481,  by  Baccio  Baldini,  after  the 
designs  of  Botticelli,  and  separately  printed  on 
slips.' ■ 

Many  of  the  volumes  once  formed  part  of 
the  libraries  of  Grolier,  Maioli,  Canevari,  Diana 
of  Poitiers,  Henry  iv.  of  France,  De  Thou, 
Count  Mansfeld,  Louis  xiii.,  and  other  celebrated 
collectors,  and  bear  on  their  covers  the  arms  or 
devices  of  their  former  owners.  There  are  fine 
examples  of  the  work  of  all  the  great  binders,  and 
many  books  bound  in  silver,  needlework,  etc. 

1  Account  of  additions  to  the  Huth  Library,  by  Mr.  A.  H.  Huth,  in 
Mr.  Quaritch's  Dictionary  of  English  Book-Collectors. 


ROBERT  SAMUEL  TURNER  415 

The  admirable  catalogue  of  the  library  in  five 
volumes  was  compiled  by  Mr.  F.  S.  Ellis  and 
Mr.  W.  C.  Hazlitt,  and  partly  revised  by  Mr. 
Henry  Huth  himself. 


ROBERT  SAMUEL  TURNER,  1818-1887 

Mr.  Robert  Samuel  Turner  was  born  in  18 18. 
Although  engaged  in  commercial  affairs  from  his 
youth  he  was  a  most  enthusiastic  book-collector, 
and  at  a  very  early  age  began  to  form  that  noble 
library,  with  which  only  a  few  collections  of  his 
time  could  vie  in  value,  extent  or  condition. 
Mr.  Turner  principally  directed  his  attention  to 
the  acquisition  of  rare  Italian,  French  and 
Spanish  books.  His  English  books  were  not 
numerous,  and  there  were  but  few  German  ones 
in  the  collection,  but  some  of  them  were  of  much 
interest.  He  possessed  one  of  the  finest  copies 
in  existence  of  the  first  folio  of  Shakespeare's 
Plays,  and  an  exceptionally  good  example  of  the 
Tewrdannck.  He  always  endeavoured  to  obtain 
the  best  and  choicest  copies  possible,  and  many 
of  them,  especially  the  French  volumes,  were 
clothed  in  beautiful  bindings,  bearing  the  arms 
or  devices  of  Grolier,  Maioli,  Diana  of  Poitiers, 
Count  Mansfeld,  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  Thomas 
Wotton,  Longepierre,  Count  von  Hoym,  and  other 
famous  collectors.     Mr.  Turner  resided  for  some 


4i6         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

years  in  Park  Square  West,  Regent's  Park, 
London,  but  in  1878  he  removed  to  the  Albany, 
Piccadilly.  In  anticipation  of  his  change  of 
residence  he  determined  to  part  with  a  portion 
of  his  collection  of  French  books,  and  on  the 
valuation  of  the  late  M.  Potier,  of  Paris,  he  offered 
it  to  an  eminent  French  amateur  en  bloc  for  four 
thousand  pounds.  This  offer  was  declined,  and 
he  sent  the  books  to  Paris  to  be  sold  by  auction. 
The  sale  took  place  at  the  Salle  Drouot  on  the 
1 2th  of  March  1878,  and  the  four  following  days, 
when  the  lots,  seven  hundred  and  seventy-four 
in  number,  realised  three  hundred  and  nineteen 
thousand  one  hundred  francs  —  considerably 
more  than  three  times  the  sum  Mr.  Turner  was 
willing  to  take  for  them.  After  his  death,  which 
occurred  at  Brighton  on  the  7th  of  June  1887, 
the  remainder  of  his  library  was  disposed  of  in 
two  sales  by  Messrs.  Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and 
Hodge:  the  first  on  June  18th,  1888,  and  the 
eleven  following  days,  and  the  second  on 
November  23rd,  1888,  and  the  thirteen  following 
days.  They  realised  respectively  thirteen  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  seventy  pounds,  thirteen 
shillings,  and  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-four  pounds,  seventeen  shillings  and 
sixpence.  The  prices  obtained  for  the  books, 
especially  at  the  French  sale,  were  very  high.  A 
dedication  copy  to  Mademoiselle  de  Montpensier, 
with  the. signature  of  Charles  de  Lorraine  on  the 


ROBERT  SAMUEL  TURNER  417 

title-page,  of  Recueil  des  Portraits  et  Eloges  en 
vers  et  en  prose  (de  personnages  du  temps  par 
Mademoiselle  de  Montpensier  et  autres),  Paris, 
1659,  with  a  morocco  binding  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  ornamented  with  fleurs-de-lis,  fetched 
fourteen  thousand  francs ;  La  Fontaine's  Fables 
Choisies,  five  volumes,  Paris,  1678,  1679  and  1694, 
bound  by  Boyet,  eleven  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  fifty  francs ;  Les  Fais  de  Jason,  par  Raoul 
Le  Febvre,  printed  at  Lyons  about  1480,  seven 
thousand  six  hundred  francs ;  Le  Livre  appelle 
Mandeville,  Lyon,  1480,  six  thousand  two 
hundred  and  fifty  francs ;  Les  CEuvres  de  Guil- 
laume  Coquillant,  Paris,  1532,  five  thousand  four 
hundred  and  fifty  francs ;  and  Les  CEuvres  de 
Moliere,  eight  volumes,  Paris,  1739,  with  addi- 
tional plates,  five  thousand  francs.  Among  the 
books  at  the  English  sales  the  exceptionally 
fine  and  large  copies  of  the  Tewrdannck, 
Nuremberg,  15 17,  and  the  Aldine  Poliphili  Hyp- 
nerotomachia,  sold  respectively  for  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  and  one  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  pounds ;  a  copy  of  Paesi  Novamente 
Retrovati,  Vicentia,  1507,  with  the  title  in  fac- 
simile, for  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  pounds ; 
and  Shakespeare's  Poems,  1640,  for  one  hundred 
and  six  pounds.  The  first  folio  of  Shakespeare 
Mr.  Turner  sold  privately  to  an  American  col- 
lector. A  Grolier  binding  realised  three  thousand 
francs  ;  another  binding  with  the  devices  of  Diana 

3G 


4i8         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

of  Poitiers,  four  thousand  four  hundred  francs ; 
a  book  from  the  library  of  Longepierre,  two 
thousand  five  hundred  francs;  two  sets  of  volumes 
with  doublures  by  Boyet,  respectively  four  thou- 
sand francs  and  three  thousand  nine  hundred 
francs ;  and  Rogers's  Italy  and  Poons,  with 
beautiful  bindings  by  Bedford,  sixty-one  pounds. 
Mr.  Turner  was  an  accomplished  linguist,  and 
he  possessed  a  wide  and  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  literary  history  and  bibliography  of  France, 
Italy  and  Spain.  He  was  also  a  collector  of  rare 
and  beautiful  bindings  before  the  interest  and 
value  of  these  works  of  art  were  generally 
appreciated. 


FREDERICK  LOCKER-LAMPSON, 

1821-1895 

Mr.  Frederick  Locker,  the  author  of  London 
Lyrics  and  other  volumes  of  delightful  light 
and  social  verse,  was  born  in  182 1.  His  father 
was  Mr.  E.  H.  Locker,  a  Civil  Commissioner 
of  Greenwich  Hospital,  and  founder  of  the  Naval 
Gallery  there.  For  some  years  Mr.  Locker  was 
Prdcis  Writer  in  the  Admiralty.  He  was 
twice  married  :  first  in  1850  to  Lady  Charlotte 
Christian,  a  daughter  of  the  seventh  Earl  of 
Elgin,  and  secondly  in    1874  to   Hannah   Jane, 


Mr.  Locker  Lampson. 


FREDERICK  LOCKER-LAMPSON       419 

a  daughter  of  the  late  Sir  Curtis  Miranda 
Lampson,  Bart.,  of  Rowfant,  Sussex.  On  the 
death  of  his  father-in-law  in  1885  he  added  the 
name  of  Lampson  to  his  own.  He  died  at 
Rowfant  on  May  the  30th,  1895. 


One  of  Mr.  Locker-Lampson's  Book-plates. 

Mr.  Locker-Lampson  tells  us  in  his  interest- 
ing autobiography  entitled  My  Confidences,  that 
he  first  collected  pictures  and  rare  sixteenth 
century  engravings,    but    collectors    with    long 


420        ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

purses  outbid  him,  so  he  turned  to  old  books : 
'  little  volumes  of  poetry  and  the  drama  from 
about  1590  to  1610/  These  formed  the  nucleus 
of  his  collection,  which  soon  grew  wide  enough  to 
include  Caxtons  and  the  works  of  the  poets  of 
the  last  century.  Rare  editions  of  Sidney, 
Spenser,  Churchyard,  Middleton,  Herbert,  Her- 
rick,  Dekker,  Chapman,  and  many  other  writers 
of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  are  to 
be  found  in  it,  and  Shakespeare  is  splendidly 
represented  by  a  perfect  copy  of  the  first  folio,  the 
first  editions  of  Lucrece,  the  Sonnets  and  the 
Poems,  and  a  large  number — some  thirty  in  all — 
of  the  quarto  plays,  many  of  which  are  the  original 
editions.  Mr.  Locker-Lampson's  folio  wanted 
Ben  Jonson's  verses,  and  he  gives  an  amusing 
account  in  My  Confidences  of  an  unsuccessful 
attempt  to  purchase  a  copy  of  them  from  a  Mr. 
Dene,  who  possessed  an  imperfect  first  folio.  He 
ultimately  bought  the  precious  leaf,  which  had 
been  pasted  in  a  scrap-book,  for  one  hundred 
pounds,  and  so  completed  his  copy.  The  library 
is  also  very  rich  in  first  editions  of  Byron, 
Tennyson,  Browning,  and  other  English  poets 
of  recent  times,  many  of  the  volumes  containing 
autograph  inscriptions  to  Mr.  Locker-Lampson 
himself.  Mr.  Locker-Lampson  placed  his  library, 
together  with  his  collections  of  autograph  letters, 
pictures  and  drawings,  in  his  residence  at  Row- 
fant,  the  beautiful  home  which  he  and  his  wife 


FREDERICK  LOCKER- LAM PSON       421 

inherited  from  the  lady's  father ;  and  a  handsome 
catalogue  of  them  published  in  1886  by  Mr. 
Quaritch,  with  an  introduction  by  their  owner, 
tells  us  of  the  treasures  they  contain.  An  etched 
portrait  of  Mr.  Locker- Lampson  and  a  sketch  of 
his  study  are  inserted  in  the  volume,  and  Mr. 
Andrew  Lang  has  prefixed  some  charming  lines 
descriptive  of  the  library  : — 

'  The  Rowfant  books,  how  fair  they  show, 

The  Quarto  quaint,  the  Aldine  tall ; 
Print,  autograph,  Portfolio ! 

Back  from  the  outer  air  they  call 
The  athletes  from  the  Tennis  ball, 

The  Rhymer  from  his  rod  and  hooks  ; 
Would  I  could  sing  them,  one  and  all, 

The  Rowfant  books ! 


The  Rowfant  books  !     In  sun  and  snow 

They  're  dear,  but  most  when  tempests  fall 
The  folio  towers  above  the  row 

As  once,  o'er  minor  prophets — Saul ! 
What  jolly  jest  books,  and  what  small 

"  Dear  dumpy  Twelves  "  to  fill  the  nooks. 
You  do  not  find  in  every  stall 

The  Rowfant  books ! 

The  Rowfant  books  !     These  long  ago 

Were  chained  within  some  College  hall ; 
These  manuscripts  retain  the  glow 

Of  many  a  coloured  capital  ; 
While  yet  the  Satires  keep  their  gall, 

While  the  Pastissicr  puzzles  cooks, 
There  is  a  joy  that  does  not  pall, 

The  Rowfant  books ! 


422         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

«>Y. 

The  Kowfant  books, — ah  magical 
As  famed  Armida's  golden  looks. 

They  hold  the  Rhymer  for  their  thrall — 
The  Rowfant  books  ! ' 

In  1900  was  published  an  Appendix  to  the 
Catalogue,  the  work  of  Mr.  Frederick  Locker- 
Lam  pson's  son,  Mr.  Godfrey  Locker- Lampson, 
consisting  of  additions  to  the  library  since  the 
printing  of  the  Catalogue  in  1886,  to  which  Mr. 
Andrew  Lang  again  contributed  some  verses  : — 

1  How  often  to  the  worthy  Sire 
Succeeds  th'  unworthy  son  ! 
Extinguished  is  the  ancient  fire, 
Books  were  the  idols  of  the  Squire, 
The  graceless  heir  has  none. 

To  Sotheby's  go  both  old  and  new, 
Bindings,  and  prose,  and  rhymes, 
With  Shakespeare  as  with  Padeloup 
The  sportive  lord  has  naught  to  do, 
He  reads  The  Sporting  Times. 

Behold  a  special  act  of  grace, 

On  Rowfant  shelves  behold, 
The  well-loved  honours  keep  their  place, 
And  new-won  glories  half  efface 

The  splendours  of  the  old.' 

The  volume  also  contains  verses  by  Mr. 
Austin  Dobson,  the  Earl  of  Crewe,  and  Mr. 
Wilfrid  Blunt. 


WILLIAM  MORRIS  423 

WILLIAM  MORRIS,  1834-1896 

William  Morris,  the  poet,  art-designer,  and 
manufacturer,  was  born  at  Elm  House,  Clay  Hill, 
Walthamstow,  Essex,  on  the  24th  of  March  1834. 
His  father  William  Morris,  a  partner  in  the  firm 
of  Sanderson  and  Co.,  discount  brokers,  London, 
died  in  1847,  leaving  him  a  considerable  fortune. 
Young  Morris  was  first  educated  at  a  preparatory 
school  at  Walthamstow,  and  afterwards  at  Marl- 
borough, from  whence  he  proceeded  to  Exeter 
College,  Oxford.  On  leaving  the  University  he 
wished  to  become  a  painter,  but  his  studies  were 
not  sufficiently  successful  to  warrant  him  carrying 
out  his  intention.  He  also  paid  some  attention 
to  the  study  of  architecture.  In  1858  he  pub- 
lished a  small  volume  entitled  The  Defence  of 
Guenevere  and  other  Poems,  which  received  but 
little  notice  at  the  time  ;  but  The  Life  and  Death 
of  Jason,  published  in  1867,  attracted  general 
attention,  and  his  reputation  was  further  greatly 
increased  by  The  Earthly  Paradise,  a  poem  in 
four  volumes,  which  appeared  in  1868-70.  From 
that  period  until  the  time  of  his  death  Mr.  Morris 
published  a  considerable  number  of  other  works, 
and,  in  collaboration  with  Mr.  Eirikr  Magnusson, 
some  translations  from  the  Icelandic.  In  1863, 
in  conjunction  with  D.  G.  Rossetti,  E.  Burne- 
Jones,  and  Ford  Madox  Brown,  he  established 
a  factory  for  the  production  of  artistic  glass,  tiles, 


424         ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 

wall-paper,  etc.,  which  has  greatly  contributed 
to  the  improvement  of  household  decoration  in 
England.  A  large  number  of  the  designs  were 
the  work  of  Mr.  Morris  himself,  his  leisure  hours 
being  devoted  to  literature,  and  it  has  been  said 
of  him  ■  that  his  poems  were  by  Morris  the  wall- 
paper maker,  and  his  wall-papers  by  Morris  the 
poet.' 

In  1 89 1  Morris  established  a  printing-press 
near  his  residence,  Kelmscott  House,  on  the 
Upper  Mall,  Hammersmith,  from  which  he 
issued  a  series  of  beautiful  and  sumptuous  re- 
prints, principally  of  old  books,  with  ornamenta- 
tions by  himself,  and  illustrations  chiefly  by  Sir 
E.  Burne-Jones.  Of  these  reprints,  which  at 
the  present  time  fetch  large  prices,  that  of 
Chaucer s  Poems  is  considered  the  finest.  In 
1898  the  trustees  of  Mr.  Morris  published  'A 
Note  on  his  aims  in  founding  the  Kelmscott 
Press.  Together  with  a  short  description  of  the 
Press  by  C.  S.  Cockerell,  and  an  annotated  list 
of  the  books  printed  thereat'  The  list  gives 
fifty-three  works  in  sixty-three  volumes  and  nine 
leaflets.  This  was  the  last  book  printed  at  the 
Kelmscott  Press.  It  was  finished  at  No.  14 
Upper  Mall,  Hammersmith,  on  the  4th  of  March 
1898.  In  it  the  aims  of  Morris  in  founding  the 
Press  are  given  in  his  own  words.  '  I  began 
printing  books,'  he  writes,  'with  the  hope  of 
producing   some   which   would    have   a   definite 


WILLIAM  MORRIS  425 

claim  to  beauty,  while  at  the  same  time  they 
should  be  easy  to  read,  and  should  not  dazzle 
the  eye,  or  trouble  the  intellect  of  the  reader  by 
eccentricity  of  form  in  the  letters.'  Mr.  Morris, 
who  died  at  Kelmscott  House  on  the  3rd  of 
October  1896,  collected  a  fine  and  extensive 
library,  which  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  Man- 
chester collector  for,  it  is  said,  the  sum  of  twenty 
thousand  pounds.  The  purchaser,  after  selecting 
the  books  he  required — about  half  of  the  mss.  and 
one-third  of  the  printed  books — sent  the  others  to 
Sotheby,  Wilkinson  and  Hodge,  by  whom  they 
were  sold  on  December  5th,  1898,  and  five 
following  days.  There  were  twelve  hundred  and 
fifteen  lots  in  the  sale,  and  the  sum  obtained 
for  them  was  ten  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-two  pounds,  eleven  shillings.  All  the 
books  realised  good  prices,  but  the  manu- 
scripts were  of  greater  interest  and  value  than 
the  printed  volumes.  The  following  are  a 
few  of  the  principal  manuscripts,  and  the  prices 
they  fetched : — Test  amentum  Novum  Latinum, 
Saec.  xii.,  vellum,  handsomely  illuminated,  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds ;  Hegesippus, 
De  Excidio  Judczorum,  Saec.  xii.,  vellum,  in  the 
original  Winchester  binding,  one  hundred  and 
eighty  pounds ;  Biblia  Sacra  Latina,  written 
on  vellum  about  1280,  with  handsomely  painted 
initials,  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  pounds ; 
Biblia  Sacra  Latina,  vellum,  written  about  1300 

3H 


426         ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 

by  an  Anglo-Norman  scribe,  with  finely  illumi- 
nated initials,  three  hundred  and  two  pounds ; 
Josephi  Antiquitates  Judaicce  et  de  Bello  Judaico 
Libri,  written  on  vellum  by  a  French  scribe  in 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  beautifully  illuminated, 
three  hundred  and  five  pounds ;  Missale  Angli- 
canum,  called  the  Sherbrooke  Missal  on  account 
of  it  having  belonged  to  the  Sherbrooke  family 
of  Oxton,  County  Notts,  a  member  of  the  family 
having  inscribed  his  name  in  it  about  1600;  it 
was  written  in  the  fourteenth  century  on  vellum, 
and  has  illuminated  capitals  and  fine  marginal 
decorations,  three  hundred  and  fifty  pounds ; 
Gratianus,  Decretales,  Saec.  xiv.,  vellum,  with 
finely  painted  and  illuminated  initials,  two 
hundred  and  fifty-five  pounds ;  Virgilius  Maro, 
Georgica  et  AUneis,  written  on  vellum  at  the  end 
of  the  fourteenth  or  beginning  of  the  fifteenth 
century  by  an  Italian  scribe,  with  beautiful  il- 
luminated decorations,  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  pounds  ;  and  Legenda  Sanctce  Catherince  de 
Senis,  Saec.  xv.,  vellum,  handsomely  illuminated, 
one  hundred  and  forty-nine  pounds. 

Some  of  the  more  notable  printed  books 
were : — S.  Hieronymi  Epistolcz,  printed  by 
Sweynheym  and  Pannartz  at  Rome  in  1468, 
fifty-three  pounds  ;  Speculum  Hiummce  Salva- 
tionis  Latino-Germanicum,  printed  by  G.  Zainer 
at  Augsburg  about  1471,  one  hundred  pounds; 
Ptolomcei  Cosmograp/iia,  Ulmae,  i486,  ninety-one 


WILLIAM  MORRIS  427 

pounds ;  Dives  and  Pauper,  printed  by  Pynson 
in  1493,  fifty-five  pounds ;  Higden's  Policronicon, 
1495,  Thordinary  of  Cry s ten  Men,  1502,  and  The 
Orcharde  of  Syon,  15 19,  all  from  the  press  of 
Wynkyn  de  Worde,  realised  respectively  thirty- 
eight  pounds,  fifty  pounds,  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty-one  pounds  ;  Hystoire  du  Chevallier  Perceval 
le  Galloys,  Paris,  1530,  seventy-nine  pounds ; 
Epistole  et  Evangelii  et  Letioni  Vulgari  in 
lingua  Thoscana,  Firenze,  1551,  eighty-nine 
pounds  ;  and  the  Historie  of  the  four  Sonnes  of 
Airnon,  printed  by  William  Copland  in  1554, 
eighty-one  pounds.  Among  the  manuscripts 
retained  were  a  twelfth-century  English  Bestiary, 
for  which  Mr.  Morris  gave  nine  hundred  pounds  ; 
the  'Windmill '  Psalter,  written  about  1270,  which 
cost  him  upwards  of  a  thousand  pounds ;  the 
Huntingdon  Psalter,  and  the  Tiptoft  Missal. 


ALPHABETICAL    LIST    OF    SALES 
By  Walter  Stanley  Graves. 


ABBREVIATIONS. 


B.  (Baker). 

B.  ft  L.  (Baker  and  Leigh). 

C.  (Christie). 

C.  ft  M.  (Christie  and  Manson). 

C.  M.  ft  W.  (Christie,  Manson  and 

Woods). 
E.  (Evans). 
L.  &  S.  (Leigh  and  Sotheby). 

Adair,  James.  -1798. 

2   parts.     L.   &  S.     Nov.,  Dec. 

1798.  8  days.     ^1815. 
Addington,  Samuel. 

Autographs.     S.  W.  &  H.     April 

1876.     3  days.     ^£2151. 
Library.    S.  W.  &  H.    May  1886. 
2  days.    ^3522. 
Akers,  Edmund  Fleming. 

2  parts.    S.    [March],  April  1820. 
21  days.     ^3729. 
Alexander,  William.    1767-18 16. 
S.    Nov.  181 6.    6  days.    ^1380. 
Allen,  Thomas. 

2  parts.     L.  &  S.     June   1795, 

1799.  19  days.     ^5737- 

ASHBURNHAM,  EARL  OF. 

See  page  384. 
Ashburton,  Lord. 

S.  W.  &  H.     July  1896.     (Selec- 
tion from  French  Library,  with 


L.  S.  &  Son  (Leigh,  Sotheby  and  Son). 
P.  ft  S.  (Puttick  and  Simpson). 
S.  (Sotheby). 

S.  ft  &  (Sotheby  and  Son). 
S.  ft  W.  (Sotheby  and  Wilkinson). 
S.  W.  ft  H.  (Sotheby.  Wilkinson  and 
Hodge). 


duplicates  of  Lord  Crawford.) 

4  days.     ^1870.     S.  W.  &  H. 

Nov.  1900.     4  days.     ^6256. 

Askew,  Anthony,  M.D.  1722-1774. 

See  page  220. 
Astle,  Edward. 

2  parts.    E.    Jan.  [18 16],  March 

[1817]. 
Part  1.     2  days.     ^2366. 
Atkinson,  Henry  John  Farmer. 

See  Farmer-Atkinson. 
Auchinleck,  Lord. 

(Auchinleck  Library.)  S.  W.  &  H. 
June  1893.     3  days-     .£2525. 
Aylesford,  Earl  of. 

C.  M.  &  W.     March    1888.     9 
days.     .£10,574. 


Bacon,  Thomas  Sclater. 
Cock   (London).      March 
76  evenings. 


1737- 


43Q 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


Baker,  George.     1747-1811. 

S.    June  1825.    3  days.    ^£1468. 
Baker,  Jambs. 

Autographs.   S.  &  W.    May  1855. 

1  day.     ^278. 

Library.     S.   &  W.     May   1855. 

2  days.     .£2336. 
Balms,  Rev.  Edward. 

E.        March     1823.        5     days. 

Bandinel,  Bulkeley,  D.D.    1781- 
1861. 
2  parts.     S.  &  W.     Aug.,   Dec. 
1 86 1.     8  days.    ^2885. 
Baskerfield,  Thomas. 

S.         Nov.      181 7.        7     days. 
^1426. 
Bateman  Heirlooms. 
S.  VV.&H.    May  1893.     6  days. 

J67296. 
Baylis,  Sir  Robert. 

B.     Nov.-Dec.  1749.     12  days. 
Beck  ford,  William.     1759-1844. 

See  page  318. 
Bedford,  Charles. 

L.  &  S.     March  1807.     6  days. 
£1648. 
Bedford,  Francis.     1799- 1883. 

S.   W.  &  H.      March    1884.     5 
days.     ^4876. 
Bentham,  William. 

E.     March- April  1838.    11  days. 

Benzon,  Ernest  L.  S. 

S.  W.  &  H.    May  1875.     2  days. 
^3622. 


Beresford-Hope,  Right  Hon. 
Alexander  J  ames  Bkresford, 
1820-1887. 
2  parts.  S.  W.&H.  March  1882, 
June  1888.  9  days.  ^5 148 
(including  engravings  and 
drawings). 
Bernal,  Ralph.  -1854. 

S.  &  W.     Feb.    1855.     6  dayi. 

j£5*73- 
Bernard,  Charles.     1650-1711. 

Sold   at   the    Black-Boy   Coffee- 
house (London).    March  1 7 1 1 . 
Bernard,  Dr.  Francis.  1627-1698. 

See  page  1 1 2. 
Berwick,  Lord.     1 770-1832. 

S.    July  181 7.     3  days.    j£ii8o. 
Berwick,  Lord.     1773-1842. 

S.   &  W.     April- May    1843.     13 
days.     ^6726. 
Beth  am,  Sir  William,    i  779-1853. 

MSS.  S.&W.    May  i860.  1  day. 
^2194. 
Bindley,  James.     1737-1818. 

See  page  246. 
Blandford,  Marquess  of. 

See  Marlborough,  Duke  of. 
Blew,  Rev.  William  J. 

S.  W.  &  H.    June  1895.    3  days. 

j£2220. 

Bliss,  Rev.  Philip.     1 787-1857. 
Books,  2  parts.     S.  &  W.     June- 
July,    Aug.     1858.      25   days. 

j£5°57- 
Autographs  and  MSS.      S.  &  W. 
Aug.  1858.     1  day.     ^614. 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  SALES        431 


Blood,  Bindon.  -1855. 

2  parts.  S.  &  W.  July,  Aug. 
1856.     13  days.    ^2530. 

Bolland,    Sir    William.      1772- 
1840. 
E.     Nov. -Dec.  1840.     13  days. 

Boswell,  James.     1 778-1822. 
S.     May- June    1825.      10  days. 

;£i753- 
Boucher,  Rev.  Jonathan.     1737- 
1804. 

3  parts.  L.  &  S.  Feb.-March, 
April  1806 ;  May- June  1809. 
40  days.     ^45°9- 

Brabourne,  Lord. 

2  parts.  S.  W.  &  H.  May  1891. 
P.  &  S.     June  1893.     7  days. 

Bragge,  William.     1 823-1 884. 
MSS.    S.  W.  &  H.  [Anon.].    June 

1876.     4  days.     ^12,272. 
Books.     2  parts.     S.  W.  &  H. 
Nov.    1880    and    June    1882. 
5  days.    ^2146. 
Brand,  Rev.  John.     1 744-1806. 

See  page  276. 
Bridges,  John.     1666-1724. 

See  page  157. 
[Bridgewater,  Duke  of.]     1736- 
1803. 
Duplicates,  3  parts.     King  (Lon- 
don).    Aug.  1800,  April,  June 
1802.     11  days. 
Part  11.     2  days.    .£210. 


Bright,  Benjamin  Heywood. 
4  parts.      S.  &  W.     June    1844, 
March- April,    July    1845.     32 
days.     ;£i  1,086. 
Bristol,  Earl  of.  -1676. 

See  page  106. 
Britton,  Thomas.     1654-17 14. 
2   parts.     John   Bullord.     Nov. 
[1694].   Thomas  Ballard.   Jan. 
1715- 
Broadley,  John. 

Part  1.     E.     July  1832.     3  days. 

^2052. 
Part   11.     E.     June    1833   (with 
another).     5  days.     ^3510. 
Brockett,  John  Trotter. 

2  parts.     S.     Dec.    1823,   June 

1843.     22  days. 
Part  1.     14  days.     ^4259. 
Brodrick,  Hon.  Charles,  Arch- 
bishop of  Cashel.    1761-1822. 
Books.    S.    June  1825.     5  days. 

^847. 
MSS.     S.  [Anon.].     June  1825. 
7  days. 
Bruton,  H.  W. 

(Cruikshankiana.)     S.  W.  &  H. 
June  1897.     3  days.     ^2519. 
[Bryant,  W.] 

King  and  Lochee.    Feb.  1800.    8 
days.     ^"2566. 
Buccleuch,  Duke  of. 

Duplicates  and  other  books. 
S.  W.  &  H.  March  1889.  3 
days.     ;£37°5- 


432 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


Buckingham,  Duke  or. 
(Stowe  Library.) 
See  page  342. 
Buckley,  Rev.  William  Edward. 
2   parti.     S.    W.   &   H.      Feb.- 
March  1893,  April   1894.     as 
days.    ,£9430. 
Bunbury,  Sir  Edward  Herbert. 
S.  W.  &H.     July  1891.     5  days. 
^2965. 
Burgess,  Frederick. 

S.  W.  &   H.      May-June   1894. 
4  days.     ^1558. 
Burghley,  William  Cecil,  Lord. 
1520-1598. 
See  page  39. 
Burney,  Charles,  Mus.  Doc  1726- 
1814. 
L.   &  S.     June   181 4.     9   days. 
j£'4i4- 
Burney,    Charles,    D.D.     1757- 
1817. 
See  page  308. 
Bute,  Earl  of.     1713-1792. 
Duplicates.      L.    &   S.    [Anon.]. 
May -June    1785.       18    days. 

^843. 
Library.     L.  &  S.     May   1794. 
10  days.     ^3470- 
Butler,  Charles.     17 50- 183  2. 

E.    Dec.  1832.    6  days.    ^1014. 
Butler,  Samuel,  Bishop  of  Lich- 
field.    1 7  74- 1 839. 
2  parts.     C.  &  M.     March-June 
1840.     15  days. 


Part  3  was  not  sold,  although 
catalogued;  the  books  being 
purchased  by  Payne  and  Foai, 
and  the  MSS.  and  autographs 
by  the  British  Museum. 

Cesar,  Sir  Julius.     1558- 1636. 
MSS.      Paterson.       Dec     1757. 
3  evenings.     .£356. 
Caldecott,  Thomas.     1743- 1833. 
S.    Dec  1833.    6  days.    ^1210. 
Caley,  John.     1763-1834. 

E.    July  1834.    9  days.    ^2620. 
Campbell,       Hon.      Alexander 
Hume. 
B.    April  1757.    9  days.     ^867. 
Chalmers,     Alexander.      1759- 
1834. 
S.  &  S.     March  1835.     11   days. 
;£i88o. 
Chalmers,  George.     1 742-1825. 
3   parts.      E.      Sept. -Oct.    1841, 
March-Nov.    1842.     23   days. 
^6189. 
[Charlemont,   Earl   of.]     1775- 
1863. 
2  parts.    S.  W.  &  H.    Aug.-Sept. 

1865.     2  days.     ^4444- 
A   large  portion   of  this   library 
was  destroyed    by  fire  at  the 
auctioneers',  also  the  catalogue 
as  printed  for  the  intended  sale 
in  July. 
[Charlotte,  Queen.]     1744-1818. 
2    parts.      C      June-July    18 19. 
20  days.     ^4540. 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  SALES        433 


Chauncey,   Charles,   M.D.,   and 
Nathaniel. 
L.  &  S.     April-May   1790.      15 
days. 
Cheney,  Edward. 

S.  W.  &  H.    June  1886.    5  days. 
^2216. 
Chichester,  Sir  John,  Bart. 
Jeffery.     Feb.-March   18 12.      19 
days. 
Clanricarde,  Earl  of. 

L.   &  S.      Jan.    1809.      5   days. 

Clare,  Earl  of.     1 793-1864. 

2  parts.    S.  W.  &  H.    April  1866, 
Jan.  1881.     3  days.     ,£2959. 
Clarendon,  Earl  of.     1609-1674. 

MSS.     B.     April  1764.     2  days. 
Clarke,  Adam.     1 762-1832. 

2  parts.    E.    Feb.  1833.    S.  &  S. 
June  1836.     14  days.     ^4865. 
Clarke,  Sir  Simon  H.,  Bart. 

C.  &  M.     April  1840.     10  days. 
Clifford,  Lord  de. 

MSS.     C.  &  M.     Feb.  1834.     4 
days. 
Cock,  Alfred. 

S.  W.  &  H.    July  1898.     3  days. 

^1564. 
Cole,  Robert. 

MSS.  and  autographs.     2  parts. 
P.  &  S.     July- Aug.  186 1,  July- 
Aug.  1867.     9  days.     ^1591- 
Coleridge,  Lord. 

S.  W.  &  H.    May  1896.    5  days. 
^2845. 


Collier,    John    Payne.       1789- 
1883. 
S.W.  &H.    Aug.  1884.    3  days. 
^2061. 
Collins,  Henry. 

S.  W.  &  H.    April  1883.    4  days. 
^2699. 

COMERFORD,  JAMES. 

S.  W.  &   H.      Nov.   1881.      13 
days.     ^8327. 
Constable,  William. 

(Burton  Constable  Library.)     2 
parts.    S.  W.  &  H.    June  1889. 
6  days.     ^3093. 
Corney,  Bolton.     1784-1870. 
S.  W.   &  H.      May-June   1871. 
10  days.     ^3539- 
Corrie,  John. 

S.  &  W.     April   1863.     4  days. 

^4409- 
Corser,  Rev.  Thomas,    i 793-1876. 

See  page  374. 
Cosens,  Frederick  William. 
S.  W.  &   H.     Nov.   1890.      12 
days.     ^5571. 
Craig,  James  Thomson   Gibson. 

See  Gibson-Craig. 
Crampon,  Alfred. 

S.W.  &  H.    June  1896.    2  days. 
^2492. 
Craufurd,  Rev.  C.  H. 

2   parts.      S.  W.    &   H.      April 
1864,    July    1876.       6    days. 
^6517. 
Crawford,  Earl  of. 
See  page  402. 


31 


434 


ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 


Crawford,  W.  H. 

(Lakelands   Library.)     S.  W.    ft 
H.      March   1891.      12   days. 

Crofts,  Rev.  Thomas. 

Paterson.     April- May  1783.     43 
days.     ^3453- 
Croker,  Right  Hon.  John  Wil- 
son.    1780-1857. 
Autographs.      S.    &    W.      May 

1858.     2  days.     ,£1099. 
Library.      S.    W.    &    H.      Jan. 
1882.     1  day.     ^136. 
Crossley,  James.     1800- 1883. 
3   parts.      Thompson    and   Son 
(Manchester).     May  1884.    S. 
W.   &   H.     July   1884,   June 
1885.     23  days.     ^8296. 
Currer,  Mary  Richardson. 
S.   &  W.     July- Aug.    1862.     10 
days.     ^5984- 
Curry,  James,  M.D. 

S.    March-April  1820.     10  days. 
;£'9i8. 


Daly,  Right  Hon.  Denis.     1747- 
1791. 
James  Vallance  (Dublin).     May 

i792-  ^37°°- 
Daly,  Robert,  Bishop  of  Cashel, 
Emly,  Waterford,  and  Lismore. 
1783-1872. 
2  parts.  S.  &  W.  [Anon.].  June 
1858.  S.  W.  &  H.  July  1872. 
5  days.     ^2618. 


Daniel,  George.     1789-1864, 

See  page  360. 
Dasent,  Sir  George  Webbe. 

Part  1.    S.W.&H.     April  1895. 

2  days.     ^803. 

Part  n.    S.  W.  &H.    March  1897. 
(With  another.)  2  days.  ^728. 
Davis,  Henry  Newnham. 

S.  W.  &  H.    Nov.  1900.    2  days. 
^4168. 
Dent,  John.     i75o?-i826. 

See  page  278. 
Digby,  Sir  Kenelm.     1603- 1665. 

See  page  106. 
Dillon,  John. 

Books.     S.W.  &  H.    June  1869. 

3  days.     .£2349. 
Autographs  and  MSS.   S.  W.  &  H. 

June  1869.    5  days.    ^3080. 
D'Israeli,  Isaac.     1 766-1848. 
S.  &  W.     March  1849.     4  days. 

£***. 

[Donegal,  Marquess  of.] 

Stewart.     March  1 800.    1 4  days. 
Dormer,  Lieut.-General  James. 
1679-1741. 
B.     Feb.-March  1764.     20  days. 
^2123. 
Douglas,  Rev.  W. 

S.    Dec.  18 1 9.    1 1  days.    ^2986. 
Dowdeswell,       Lieut.-General 
William.     1 761-1828. 
E.    July  1828.     4  days.    ^£1347- 
Drury,  Rev.  Henry. 

2  parts.     E.     Feb.-March  1827. 
23  days.     ^8917. 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  SALES        435 


Ducarel,  Andrew  Coltee.    1 7 1 3- 

1785- 
L.  &  S.     April  1786.     8  days. 

^997. 
Duckett,  Sir  George,  Bart. 
Autograph   documents,    etc.      S. 
&  S.    June-July  1832.    4  days. 
^1362. 

Edwardes,    Sir    Henry    Hope, 
Bart. 
C.  M.  &  W.    May  1901.    4  days. 

Edwards,  James.     1 757-1 81 6. 

See  page  298. 
Evans,  Herbert  N.,  M.D. 

2  parts.    S.  W.  &  H.    May,  June 
1864.     13  days.     ^3186. 
Eyton,  J.  C. 

S.  W.  &  H.    June  1881.    3  days. 

;£i793- 
Eyton,  Joseph  Walter  Ring. 
S.  &  W.     May  1848.     8   days. 
^2693. 

Fairfax,  Brian.     1 676-1 749. 

(Osterley   Park    Library.)      See 
page  172. 
Falconer,  J.  J. 

S.  W.  &  H.    Aug.  1877.    6  days. 

;£i925- 
Farmer,    Richard,    D.D.     1735- 

1797. 

See  page  237. 
Farmer-Atkinson,  Henry  John. 
2   parts.     S.  W.  &   H.     March 


1896.     P.  &  S.     April  1897. 
5  days.     ^2066. 
Farnham,  Baron.    1 799-1868. 
S.   W.   &   H.     June- July   1869. 

9  days.     ^2168. 
Fauntleroy,  Henry.     1 785-1824. 

S.    April  1825.    3  days.    ^2714. 
Fielding,  Henry.     1 707-1 754. 
B.      Feb.    1755.       4    evenings. 

;£364. 
Folkes,  Martin.     1690- 17  54. 

See  page  197. 
Forster,  Richard. 

King  and  Loche'e.     Nov.  1806. 

10  days.     ^1696. 
Foster,  Birket. 

S.  W.  &   H.     June  1894  (with 
others).     4  days.     ^51 98. 
Fraser,  Sir  William  Augustus. 
S.  W.  &  H.    April  1 90 1.    8  days. 
^20,334. 
Freeling,     Sir     Francis,     Bart. 
1 764-1 836. 
E.     Nov.-Dec.    1836.     10  days. 

>£373°- 
Frere,  John  Tudor. 
S.  W.  &  H.    Feb.  1896.    4  days. 
^3747- 


Gaisford,  Thomas.  -1898. 

S.   W.   &  H.     April-May  1890. 
8  days.    ^9236. 
Gardner,  Cecil  Dunn. 

S.  W.  &  H.    June  1880.    6  days. 
^4734- 


43$ 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


Gardner,  John  D 

a   parts.     S.  &  W.     July    1854, 
Nov.  1875.   12  days.  ,£10,153. 
Gibson-Craig,    James    Thomson. 
1 799- 1 886. 
See  page  396. 
Gilchrist,     Octavius     Graham. 
1779-1823. 
E.    Jan.  1824.    6  days.    ^1355. 
Glenbervie,  Baron,     i  743-1823. 
2   parts.     E.     June,  July   1823. 
'5  days.     ^2534. 
Gloucester,  William  Frederick, 
Duke  of.     1 776-1834. 
S.  &S.    July-Aug.  1835.    8  days. 
^"65. 
GoLDSMiD,  John  Louis. 

E.   Dec.  [1815].   5  days.  ^2179. 
Goldsmith,  Oliver.     1 728-1 774. 

Good.     July  1774.     1  day. 
Gooch,  Archdeacon. 

S.    Nov.  1823.    4days.    £"1212. 
Gordon,  Sir  Robert. 

(Gordonstoun    Library.)      Coch- 
rane.    March  1816.     12  days. 

j£i539- 
Gosford,  Earl  of. 

P.   &   S.     April- May   1884.     n 
days.     .£11,318. 
Gossett,  Rev.  Isaac.     1 735-181 2. 
L.    &   S.     June-July    1813.     23 
days.     ^3141- 
Gough,  Richard.     1 735-1809. 

See  page  240. 
Grafton,  Duke  of.     1 735-181 1. 
2    parts.     L.  &  S.     Dec.    181 1. 


[Anon.].     June    1815. 
days.    ,£4803. 
Grant,  Francis.     1834- 1899. 
2   parts.     P.  &  S.     Nov.    1881. 
S.    W.     &     II        May    1900. 
3  days.     ^2526. 
Grave,  Robert.     1 731-1802. 
L.  S.  &  S.    April  1803.     8  days. 
^1023. 
Greslev,  Sir  Roger,  Bart 

E.    May  1838.    3  days.    ^1601. 
Guild,  J.  Wyi.i  if. 

Chapman  and  Son  (Edinburgh). 
April  1888.     10  days. 
Guilford,  Earl  of.     1 766-1827. 

See  page  322. 
[Gulston,  Joseph.]     1745-1786. 
2  parts.      Compton     (London). 
May[i783],Junei784.   15  days. 
Parti.     11  days.     .£1750. 

Hailstone,  Edward.     181 8- 1890. 

(Walton  Hall  Library.)     2  parts. 

S.  W.  &  H.     Feb.,  April-May 

1891.     18  days.    ,£8991. 

Halliwell  -  Phillipps,        James 

Orchard.     1820-1889. 

S.  W.  &  H.    July  1889.    4  days. 

ilton,  Duke  of. 
(Hamilton Library.)  Seepage329. 
Hamper,  William.     1 776-1831. 

E.    July  1 83 1.    3  days.    £1820. 
Hampton,  Lord.     1 799-1 880. 
S.  W.  &  H.    Feb.  1 88 1.    3  days. 
^3539- 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  SALES        437 


Hanrott,  Philip  Augustus. 
6  parts.     E.     July,  Aug.   1833; 
Feb.-March  1834;  Jan.  1857. 
50  days.     ^22,806. 
Hardwicke,  Earl  of. 

(Wimpole  Library.)     C.  M.  &  W. 
June  1888.     1  day.      ^3242. 
Hardwicke  State  Papers  advertised 
for  sale  by  S.  W.  &  H.  were 
purchased  en  bloc  by  the  British 
Museum. 
Harley,  Edward,  Earl  of  Oxford. 
1689-1741. 
See  page  155. 
Harley,  Robert,  Earl  of  Oxford. 
1661-1724. 
See  page  155. 
Harman,  Jeremiah. 

E.    May  1844.    5  days.    ^1761. 
Harrison,  W. 

S.  W.  &  H.     Jan.  1881.     4  days. 
^2890. 
Hartley,  Leonard  Laurie.   1816- 
1883. 
3  parts.      P.  &  S.     June  1885, 
May  1886,  April  1887.   28  days. 
^16,530. 
Hartree,  William. 

S.  W.  &  H.     July  1890.     8  days. 
^8255. 
Harward,  John. 

2  parts.     S.  &  W.     Dec.  [1858], 
May  1859.     9  days.     ^3800. 
Haslewood,  Joseph.     1 769-1833. 
E.         Dec.      1833.       8     days. 
^2471. 


Hawkins,  Rev.  W.  Bentinck  L. 
3  parts.      C.  M.  &  W.      March, 
April  1895.     6  days.     ^2903. 
Hawley,  Sir  Joseph,  Bart. 

S.  W.  &  H.    July  1894.    3  days. 
^2882. 
Hawtrey,  Edward  Craven,  D.D. 
1789-1862. 
2  parts.      S.  &  W.      July  1853, 
June-July    1862.        .16    days. 
^7048. 
Hayter,  Thomas,  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don.    1702-1762. 
B.   May  1757.    16  days.  ^1130. 
Heath,    Benjamin,    D.D.     1739- 
1817. 
See  page  255. 
Heathcote,  Robert. 

5   parts.      L.  S.   &  S.   [Anon.]. 
April,  May,  June  1802.    L.  &  S. 
[Anon.]  Feb.      [Anon.]    Dec. 
1805.     16  days.     ^7684. 
Heber,  Richard,     i 773-1833. 

See  page  341. 
Henley,  John  ('Orator').     1692- 

1756. 
MSS.     Paterson.     June  1759. 

Herman,  Henry. 

2  parts.    S.  W.  &  H.    May  1883 
Jan.  1885.     3  days.     ^2401. 
Hibbert,  George.     1757-1837. 

See  page  302. 
Higgs,  William  Simonds. 
S.  &  S.     April  1830.      3  days. 
^1838. 


43« 


ENGLISH    BOOK  COLLECTORS 


Hill,  Thomas,     i  760-1840. 
7  parts.     L.  &  S.     June  181 1. 
E.      March    1841.      25  days. 
^2846. 
Hoare,  Sir  Richard  Colt,  Bart. 
1 758- 1 838.    (Stourhead  Library.) 
See  page  3 1 6. 
Hoblyn,  Robert.     17 10-1756. 

B.  &  L.     March  1778.     26  days. 

Hodges,  Christopher. 

E.  March  18 14.  3  days.  ^2046. 
Hodgson,  William. 

S.  March  1824.  6  days.  ^2079. 
Holland,  Lancelot,  and  Henry. 

S.  &  W.      July   i860.      6  days. 

^4475- 
Hope,  Adrian. 

S.  W.  &  H.     April  1896.     5  days. 

;£355*- 
Hope,  Henry  P. 

L.  &  S.     Feb.-March  1813.     18 

days.    ^3837. 

Hopetoun,  Earl  of. 

(Hopetoun       House      Library.) 

S.  W.  &  H.     Feb.   1889.     4 

days.    ^6117. 

Horsley,   Samuel,   Bishop  of  St. 

Asaph.     1 733- 1 806. 

L.   &  S.      May   1807.      9  days. 

^1822. 

Howard,  Henry. 

C.  M.  &  W.     June  1898.     2  days. 
^35oo. 

Hunter,  John. 
4  parts.     L.  &  S.      Feb.    1805. 


[Anon.]  [Feb.]  1808.     [Anon.] 
Feb.  1813.     E.     May  1842. 
Part  1.  (with  another).     5  day$. 

Parts  il,  ml,  iv.   9  days.  ^2516. 

HUNTKK,  WlI.UAM. 

E.  Feb.  [1816].  6days.  ^1421. 
Hurd,  Philip. 

2  parts.  E.  March-April  1832, 
July-August    1845.       M    days. 

^7364- 
Hutton,  John. 

Paterson  and  Bristow.  Oct.-Nov. 
1764.     28  days. 

[HUYBERS.] 

S.    May  1818.     3  days.    .£2288. 

Inglis,  John  Bellingham.     1780- 
1870. 
See  page  350. 

James,  Charles. 

S.  March  18 1 9.  6  days.  ^1857. 
Jarman,  John  Boykett. 

Illuminated  Missals,  etc.  S.  W. 
&  H.      June    1864.      1    day. 

j€233i- 
Books.    S.  W.  &  H.    June  1864. 
1  day.     ^136. 
Jersey,  Earl  of. 

(Osterley    Park    Library.)      See 
page  172. 
[Johnson,  Richard.] 

L.  &  S.     Dec  1807.      12  days. 

^1948. 
Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel.    1 709-1 784. 
C.    Feb.  1785.     4  days.    ^247. 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  SALES        439 


Kemble,  John  Philip.    1 757-1823. 

E.    Jan.  1821.    9  days.    ^2577. 

This   sale   did   not    include   the 

collection  of  old  plays,  which 

were    privately   purchased    by 

the   Duke   of   Devonshire   for 

^2000. 

Kershaw,  John. 

S.  W.  &  H.     July  1877.    6  days. 
^2099. 
King,  Edward.     1 735-1 807. 
L,   &  S.     Feb.    1808.     8   days. 
^2423. 
Knight,  Edward. 
E.    Mayi82i.    10  days.    ^2415. 

Laing,  David.     1 793-1878. 

See  page  378. 
Lake,  Sir  James  Winter,  Bart. 
Stewart.     March  1808.     15  days. 
^1855. 
Lambert,  John. 

L.  &  S.     June    1808.     4  days. 
^1568. 
Lang,  Robert. 

E.   Nov.  1828.  1 1  days.    ^2837. 
Lansdowne,  Marquess  of.     1737- 
1805. 
See  page  251. 
Larking,  John  Wingfield.    1801- 
1891. 
S.  W.  &  H.    April  1892.    3  days. 

^3925- 
Lawrence,  Edwin  Henry. 

S.  W.  &  H.    May  1892.    4  days. 


Lawrence,   Sir  Thomas.      1769- 
1830. 
S.   &  S.     June   1830.     4  days. 

;£l020. 

Leighton,  Lord.     1830-1896. 
C.  M.  &  W.    July  1896.    2  days. 

Le  Neve,  Peter.     1661-1729. 

See  page  149. 
Letherland,  Joseph,  M.D.    1699- 
1764. 
B.     March-April  1765.     22  days. 
Lettsom,    John    Coakley,   M.D. 
1744-18x5. 
2  parts.     L.   &  S.     March-April 
181 1,   April    1816.     n    days. 

^3565- 
Lewis,   John   Delaware.      1828- 
1884. 
2  parts.    S.  W.  &  H.    June  1866, 
May  1868.     4  days.    ^3257. 

[LlTTLEDALE,  A.] 

S.    June  1820.    5  days.    ^1606. 

LlTTLEDALE,  EDWARD. 

E.    July  1837.    10  days.    ^1750. 
Lloyd,   Charles,   Bishop  of  Ox- 
ford.    1 784-1829. 
S.    July  1829.    5  days.    ^1538. 
Lloyd,  Thomas. 

S.     July  1819.    6  days.    ^2035. 
Lort,     Michael,     D.D.        1725- 
1790. 
2    parts.     L.   &  S.     April,   May 
1791.     25  days.     ^1269. 
Luttrell,  Narcissus.    1657-1732. 
See  page  141. 


44Q 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


Lysons,  Rev.  Daniel,    i  762-1834. 
Part    1.     E.     March  1828  (with 

others).     3  days.     ^2093. 
Part  11.     E.     Nov.  1834.     1  day. 
^451     (including    remaining 
copies    of    Lysons's    R<liqui<r 
Britannico- Romano). 
Lysons,  Samuel.     1763-18 19. 
K.     June  1820.     8  days. 


Mackenzie,  John  Mansfield. 
S.W.&H.    March  1889.    8  days. 

^7072. 
Mackintosh,   Sir  James,      i  765- 
1832. 
E.    Nov.  1832.    9  days.    ^1797. 
Maidment,  James.     1795-1879. 
Chapman  and  Son  (Edinburgh). 
April-May  1880.     15  days. 
Mainstone,  James. 

L.  &  S.      April-May   1800.      13 
days.    ^1175- 
Maitland,  Thomas,    Lord   Dun- 
drennan.     1 792-185 1. 
Tait   and    Nisbet    (Edinburgh). 
Dec.  1 85 1.     9  days.    ^2395. 
Makellar,  Rev.  William. 

S.   W.  &   H.      Nov.   1898.      n 
days.     ;£ii,ii8. 
Malkin,  Benjamin  Heath.     1769- 
1842. 
E.   March  1828.   7  days.  ^3539. 
Malone,  Edmond.     1741-1812. 
S.     Nov.-Dec.    1 818.     8    days. 
^1648. 


The  Early  English  portion  of  his 
library  was  presented  to  the 
Bodleian  Library,  Oxford,  by 
his  brother. 
Marlborough,  Duke  of.     i  766- 
1840. 
(White   Knights   Library.)      See 
page  327. 
Marsh,    John   Fitchett.      1818- 
1880. 
S.  W.  &  H.     May  1882.     9  days. 
^2809. 
Mason,  Georgk.     1 735-1 806. 
4  parts.     L.  &  S.     Jan.,  May, 
Nov.    1798.;    April  1799.      11 
days.     ^2661. 
Mathews,  Charles.     1776- 1835. 
(Theatrical     Library,     Portraits, 
etc.)    S.  &  S.     Aug.  1835.     4 
days.     ^947. 
Mathias,  Thomas  James.      1754- 

1835. 

E.     April  1820.     12  days. 
Mead,  Richard,  M.D.    1673- 1754. 

See  page  163. 
Middleton,  Conyers,  D.D.    1683- 

>75o. 
B.     March  1 75 1.     10  days. 

[MlDGELEY.] 

Robert  Saunders  (London).   Feb. 
1 8 18.     6  days. 
Mills,  George  Galwey. 
Jeffery.      Feb.- March   1800.     13 
days.     ^4319- 
Milner,  John. 

E     May  1829.     3  days.    ^1236. 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  SALES        441 


Mitford,  Rev.  John.     1 781-1859. 
3  parts.     S.  &  W.     Dec.  1859; 
April-May,  July  i860.    20  days. 
^4846. 
Monro,  John,  M.D.      1715-1791. 
L.  &  S.     April-May  1792.      15 
days.     ^1650. 
Morris,  William.     1835-1896. 
See  page  423. 


Nares,  Rev.  Robert.     1 753-1829. 
E.      Nov.-Dec.  1829.      8    days. 
^1286. 
Nash,  John.     1752-1835. 

E.    July  1835.    5  days.    £1748. 
Nassau,  George  Richard  Savage. 
1756-1823. 

2  parts.  E.  Feb.,  March  1824. 
20  days.     £8505. 

Nayler,  Sir  George.     1 764-1831. 
(Heraldic  books  and  MSS.)     2 
parts.      S.  &  S.      April,  July 
1832.     5  days.     ^1991. 
Naylor,  F. 
Autographs,  etc.      S.  W.  &  H. 
July- Aug.     1885.         6    days. 
^2710. 
Nichols,  John.     1745-1826. 

3  parts.  S.  April,  May  1828. 
S.  &  W.  July  1856.  7  days. 
^1833. 

Nichols,  John   Bowyer.      1779- 
1863. 
2  parts.    S.  W.  &  H.    May,  Dec. 
1864.     11  days.     £6 174. 


Nichols,  John  Gough.   1806-1873. 

2  parts.    S.  W.  &  H.    Dec.  1874, 
April  1879.     9  days.    £2313. 

Nicholson,  Alexander. 

E.    Feb.  1830.    3  days.    ^1468. 
Nicolay,  Frederick. 

L.  &S.    Nov.-Dec.  1809.    8  days. 
^1101. 
Norfolk,  Duke  of.     1746-1815. 

3  parts.     E.     Nov.-Dec.  [1816], 
March  [1817],  Dec.  1821. 

Part  1.     8  days.     ^1777. 
North,  John. 

3  parts.     E.     March-May  181 9. 
25  days.     £12,707. 

Offor,  George,     i 787-1864. 
S.  W.  &H.    June-July  1865.    11 

days.     First  two  days,  £2901. 
On  the  third  morning  of  the  sale 

a  fire  occurred,  which  so  far 

damaged  the   remainder  that 

the   salvage  was  sold   to  Mr. 

Henry  Stevens  for  £300. 
The  library  is  said  to  have  been 

valued   for   probate  at  about 

,£70,000. 
Ord,  Craven,  1 756-1832. 

3  parts.     E.     June   1829,  Jan. 

1830,  May  1832. 
Parts  1.  and  in.    4  days.    £3029. 
Part  11.     MSS.  (with  others).     5 

days.     £2654. 
Orford,  Horace  Walpole,  Earl 

of. 
See  Walpole. 


3K 


442 


ENGLISH  BOOK  COLLECTORS 


Orford,  Earl  of.     1813-1894. 
S.  W.  &  H.    June  1895.    2  days. 
^2609. 
Orme,  Robert,     i 728-1801. 
L.  &  S.     April-May   1796.      10 
days.     ^1179. 
Ormerod,  George.     1785-1873. 
S.  W.  &  H.    Aug.  1875.    5  days. 
^2199. 
Ouvry,  Frederic.     1814-1881. 
S.  W.  &  H.     March-April  1882. 
6  days.     ^6169. 
Oxford,    Robert    and    Edward 
Harley,  Earls  of. 
See  Harley. 


[Parker,  William.] 

E.    June  1820.    5  days.    ^2460. 
Parr,  Rev.  Samuel.     1747-1825. 

2   parts.      E.    •  May,    Oct.-Nov. 
1828.     15  days.    ^2720. 
Parris,  P.  C. 

L.  &  S.      May  1815.      5   days. 

Parton,  John. 

E.    June  1822.    4  days.    ^1736. 
Pearson,  Thomas.     1740-1781. 
T.    and    J.    Egerton    (London). 
April-May     1788.       23    days. 
^1807. 
Peel,    Sir    Robert    (Peel    Heir- 
looms). 
Robinson  and  Fisher.   June  1900. 
4  days.      ^5883     (including 
autographs). 


Penn,  Granville.     1761-1844. 

a  parts.     S.  &  W.     June  1851. 
[Anon.]     July-Aug.  185 1.     10 
days.     ,£8471. 
Penrhyn,  Lord.     1737-1808. 

L.  &  S.     March  1809.     5  days. 
£1188. 
Perkins,  Frederick.     1 780-1860. 

See  page  348. 
Perkins,  Henry.     1 778-1855. 

See  page  346. 
Perry,  James.     1756-1821. 

4  parts.     E.     March-May  1822. 

Feb.  1823.     27  days.    ^7400. 

Petit,  Louis  Hayes.     1774-1849. 

S.  VV.  &    H.     April-May    1869. 
14  days.     ^2937. 
Philips,  Nathaniel.      1795-1831. 

E.  March  1837.    2  days.  ^1464. 
Phillipps,  Sir  Thomas,  Bart.  1792- 
1872. 

See  page  370. 
Phillips,  George. 

E.    Feb.  18 1 8.    5  days.    j^Jii  13. 
[Pitt,  William.] 

L.&S.  Jan.  1808.  4  days.  ^1239. 
Pollock,  William. 

E.   March  1818.   3  days.  ^1823. 
Porson,  Richard.     1 759-1808. 

L.  &  S.     June  1809.      7  days. 

;£i254- 
Prest,  William. 

S.    June  1 8 19.    6  days.    ^2032. 
Price,  Sir  Charles  Rugge,  Bart. 
S.  W.  &  H.     Feb.  1867.     7  days. 
^3439- 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  SALES        443 


Price,  Lake. 
S.W.&H.    March  1880.    2  days. 

Prince,  Rev.  Samuel. 

S.  W.  &  H.     Dec.  1865.     4  days. 
^1902. 
Pryce,  Rev.  D.  F. 

S.    March  1824.   3  days.   ^1146. 


Raine,    Matthew,    D.D.       1760- 
1811. 
L.  &  S.     Feb.-March  181 2.     13 

days.     ^2794. 
Aldine  and  classical  books  be- 
queathed to   Trinity   College, 
Cambridge. 
Randolph,  John,  Bishop  of  London. 
1749-1813. 
E.    April  1 8 14.    8  days.    ^2046. 
Ratcliffe,  John.        -1776. 

C.     March-April  1776.     9  even- 
ings.    ;£n<>5- 
Rawlinson,  Dr.  Richard.     1690- 

1755- 
See  page  191. 
Rawlinson,  Thomas.     1 681-1725. 

See  page  178. 
Reed,  Isaac     1 742-1807. 

See  page  269. 
Reeves,  John.     1 752-1829. 

S.  &  S.      Sept.  1 83 1.     10  days. 
^1859. 
Reid,  Hugh  Galbraith. 

2  parts.    S.  W.  &  H.     May  1894. 
12  days.     ^3466. 


Rendorp,  John. 

.S.  Feb.-Mar.1825.  8  days.  ^2522. 
Rennie,  John. 

2  parts.    E.    July  1829.     ndays. 

^5169. 
Remainder.      E.      March     1833 
(with  others).   5  days.  ^2130. 
Rhodes,  Abraham. 

S.    Feb.  1817.    3  days.    ^1328. 
Rhodes,  William  Barnes.     1772- 
1826. 
S.   April  1825.    10  days.   ^1751. 
Ridgway,  Joseph. 

2   parts.      S.  W.   &   H.      May, 
June    1879.     5  days.     ^2011 
(including  autographs). 
Roberts,  Edward  Walpole. 
S.    March  1828.    4  days.    ^1343 
(including     the      Numismatic 
Library  of  his  son  Barre  Charles 
Roberts). 
Rogers,  Samuel,     i  763-1855. 
C.  &  M.     May  1856.     6  days. 

Roscoe,  William.     1753-1831. 
Winstanley    (Liverpool).      Aug.- 
Sept.  1816.    14  days.    ^5150. 
Roupell,  Robert  P. 

S.  W.  &  H.     July  1870.     5  days. 
^2089. 
Roxburghe,  Duke  of.    i  740-  i  804. 

See  page  261. 
Russell,    Rev.     John     Fuller. 
1814-1884. 
2  parts.     S.W.&H.    June  1885, 
Feb.  1886.     9  days.     ^9485. 


444 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


RUTHERFURD,        ANDREW,        LORD 
RUTHERFURD,  179I-1854. 

Nisbet     (Edinburgh).        March- 
April  1855.     n  days.    ,£6886. 

Sala,  George  Augustus  Henry. 
1828-1895. 
S.  W.  &  H.     July  1895.    4  days. 

Saunders,  William  Wilson.  1809- 
1879. 
2  parts.    S.  W.  &  H.    Aug.  1873, 
March  1880.    4  days.    ^2543. 
Savile,  Sir  John.     1 545-1607. 
(With   Sir   Henry   Savile,    1549- 
1622,    and    Sir    John   Savile, 
1 556-1630.) 
2  parts.     S.  &  W.     Dec.    i860, 
Feb.  1 86 1.     3  days.     ^5844. 
Scharf,  Sir  George. 

S.  W.  &  H.     Feb.  1896.    4  days. 

;£i3°4- 
Scott,  Sir  Claude,  Bart. 

E.    June  1831.    6  days.    ^4137- 
Scott,  George,     i  751-1780. 

L.  &  S.     March  1781.     16  days. 
Seaford,  Lord.     1 771-1845. 

E.    June  1832.  4  days.    ^1551. 
Sedgwick,  William. 

L.  &  S.      April  181 1.      4  days. 

j£"07- 
Selsey,  Lord. 

S.  W.  &  H.    June  1872.    9  days. 

^4297- 
[Sheepshanks.] 

S.&S.  May  1834.  5  days.  £2679 


Sheldon,  Ralph.     1623-1684. 

(Weston  Library.)    Seepage  no. 
Shrewsbury,  Earl  of. 

S.  &  W.      June-July   1857.     12 

days.     .£2901. 
Remainder  and  imperfect  books. 
S.  &  W.     May  1858.     1  day. 
^164. 
Simeon,  Sir  John,  Bart. 

S.  W.  &H.   March  1 87 1.   9  days. 

^3509- 
Simes,  N.  P. 

S.W.  &  H.     July  1886.     6  days. 
^4621. 
Skaife,  John,  M.D. 
S.  W.  &  H.    Feb.  1883.    5  days. 
^2710. 
Slade,  Felix.     1 790-1868. 

S.  W.  &  H.    Aug.  1868.    6  days. 

^57i8. 
Selection   of   mss.   and    ancient 
bindings    bequeathed   to    the 
British  Museum. 
Smith,  George. 

S.  W.   &   H.      July-Aug.    1867. 
22  days.     ^9817. 
Smith,  Joseph.     1682-17  70. 

See  page  185. 
Smith,  Richard.     1590-1675. 

See  page  94. 
Smith,  Thomas. 

S.     May  1825.    8  days.    £1583. 
Smyth,  Sir  Robert,  Bart. 

L.  &  S.      April   1809.      6  days. 
;£i499- 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  SALES 


445 


Southey,  Robert.     17  74- 1843. 
S.  &  W.      May  1844.-    16  days. 
^2933. 

SOUTHGATE,  REV.  RlCHARD.   1729- 

1795- 
L.  &  S.     April-May  1795.      I2 
days-     ^1332. 
Spencer,    George    John,    Earl. 
1 758-1834. 
See  page  312. 
Splidt,  Philip. 

L.  &S.  Feb.  1814.  6days.  ^1440. 
Stanley,  Colonel. 

E.     April- May    1813.      8   days. 
^8233. 
Steevens,  George.     1 736-1800. 

See  page  242. 
Stephenson,  G.  H. 

S.   W.  &   H.      June-July   1899. 
2  days.     ^1915. 
Strange,  John.     1 732-1799. 
L.  S.  &  S.     March- April  1801. 
29  days. 
Strettell,  Amos. 

2  parts.     E.     Feb.-March  1820, 
May  1841.     11  days.     ^3023. 

Stuart,  James  Alexander. 

L.  &   S.      June-July   1814.      16 
days.     ^1393- 
Stuart,  William. 

C.  M.  &  W.     March    1895.     » 
day.     ^4296. 
Sullivan,     Sir     Edward,    Bart. 
1822-1885. 

3  parts.      S.   W.   &   H.      May- 
June  1900.   21  days.   ;£n,oo2. 


Sunderland  Library. 

See  page  168. 
Sussex,  Duke  of.     1773-1843. 

See  page  12. 
Sykes,    Sir    Mark    Masterman, 
Bart.     1771-1823. 

See  page  335. 


Talbot,  Sir  Charles,  Bart. 
L.   &  S.     May   1814.     6  days 
^2191. 
Taylor,  George  Watson. 

2  parts.    E.    March,  April  1823. 
14  days.     ^8776. 
Taylor,  Rev.  Henry. 

S.    June  1822.    9  days.   ^1169. 
Taylor,  Sir  Simon,  Bart. 

E.    June  1833.    2  days.   ^1607. 
Taylour,  John. 

L.  &  S.     June- July   1793.      24 
days.     ^1023. 
Tebbs,  Henry  Virtue. 

S.  W.  &  H.    June  1900.    2  days. 
^1468. 
Tenison,  Archbishop.    1623-1715. 
2  parts.     S.   &  W.     June,  July 
1861.     7  days.     ^3089. 
Thomas,  Thomas. 

E.      Nov.-Dec.    1843.      3  days. 
^1360. 
Thompson,  Sir  Alexander. 

S.    Dec.  181 7.    5  days.    ^1648. 
Thompson,  Sir  Peter. 

E.     April-May   181 5.     5    days. 
^i376. 


446 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTORS 


Thornhill,  Sir  Thomas,  Bart. 
S.  W.  &  H.    April  1889.    a  days. 
.£2030. 
Thorold,  Sir  John,  Bart.     1734- 
1815. 
(Syston     Park     Library.)      Sec 
page  234. 
Tite,  Sir  William.     1798-1873. 

See  page  393. 
Towneley,  John.     1 731-18 13. 

See  pages  229  and  231. 
Townshend,   George,  Marquess 
or.     1755-1811. 
L.  &  S.     May  181 2.     16  days. 

^5745- 
Tuer,  Andrew  White. 

S.  W.  &  H.     July  1900.     1  day. 
^600. 
Tuffen,  J.  F. 

2  parts.    S.     March  18 18.     Feb. 
1821.     18  days.     ^2866. 
Turnbull,      William      Barclay 
David  Donald.     1811-1863. 
First   library.      Nov.    185 1.      14 

days. 
Second  library.     S.  &  W.     Nov.- 
Dec.  1863.     6  days.    ^2779. 
Turner,  Dawson.     1 775-1858. 
Library.  2  parts.  S.  &  W.    March 
1853.    P.  &S.    May  1859.    21 
days.     ^6902. 
MSS.  and  Autographs.     P.  &  S. 
June  1859.     5  days.     ^6558. 
Turner,  Robert  Samuel.     18 18- 
1887. 
See  page  416. 


Tyssen,  Samuel. 

L.  S.  &  S.    Dec  1 80 1.     13  days. 
j£*744* 

Uttkrson,      Edward      Vernon. 
1776-1856. 
2  parts.     S.  &  W.     April   1852. 
March  1857.    15  days.  ^9601. 

Valpy,  Rev.  R. 

E.     June-July   1832.      10  days. 
^2045. 
Van   Mildert,   William,   Bishop 
of  Durham.     1765-1836. 
Wheatley.    June  1836.     10  days. 
Vincent,  William,   D.D.      1739- 
1815. 
E.       March    [1816].       6    days. 
^1077. 

Wakefield,  Rev.  Gilbert.    1756- 
180 1.      L.    S.   &   S.      March- 
April  1802.     7  days.     ^1215. 
Walker,  T.  Shadford. 

S.  W.  &  H.    June  1886.    2  days. 
jC446i. 
Walpole,  Horace,  Earl  of  Orford. 
1717-1797. 
(Strawberry  Hill  Library.)     See 
page  214. 
Walton,  Brian,  Bishop  of  Chester. 
1600-1661. 
Samuel    Carr   (London).      April 
1683. 
Way,  Benjamin. 

E.      May-June    1834.      3    days. 
jfiiil. 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  SALES        447 


Way,  Gregory  Lewis. 

2  parts.    S.  W.  &  H.    July  1881, 
March  1884.    2  days.    ^3056. 
Weaver,  Harold  Baillie. 

2  parts.    S.W.  &  H.    Dec.  1897. 
C.   M.  &  W.      March    1898. 
5  days.     ^6575. 
Webb,  Philip  Carteret.      1700- 
1770. 
B.  &  L.     Feb.-March  1771.     17 
days. 
Wellesley,  Marquess.  1 760-1842. 
E.    Jan.  1843.    4  days.    ^1217. 
Wellesley,  Henry,  D.D.     1791- 
1866. 
2   parts.     S.   W.   &  H.     Aug., 
Nov.  1866.    1 6  days.    ^4821. 
Wells,  John. 

E.    Sept.  1 84 1.    6  days.    ^1341. 
West,  James.     i704?-i772. 

See  page  205. 
Wheler,  Benjamin,  D.D. 

B.  &  L.     Nov.  [1772].     10  days. 

WlLBRAHAM,  R.  W. 

S.  W.  &  H.    June  1898.    3  days. 
^323i- 

WlLBRAHAM,  ROGER. 

E.    June  1829.    6  days.    ^1000. 
[Wilkes,  J.]. 

S.  &  W.    March  1847.    11  days. 
^6533. 
Wilkinson,  George. 

E.    July  1836.    3  days.    ^2984. 
Willett,  Ralph.     17 19-1795. 

(Merly  Library.)     See  page  216. 


[William  IV.].     1765-1837. 
E.    Feb.  1837.     7  days.    ^1932 
(including  prints). 
Williams,  Rev.  Theodore. 

2  parts.      Stewart,  Wheatley  and 
Adlard.     April-May  1827.    15 
days. 
Wills,  Howell. 

S.  W.  &  H.     July  1894.     6  days. 
^8204. 
Windham,  Joseph.     1 739-1810. 
L.  &  S.     Feb.  181 1.     12  days. 
^4269. 
Windus,  Benjamin  Godfrey. 
S.  W.  &  H.     March  1868.     4 
days.    ^2988. 
Wodhull,  Michael.     1740-1816. 

See  page  265. 
Woodford,  Emperor  John  Alex- 
ander. 
L.  &  S.     May  1809.     11  days. 

^4572. 
Woodhouse,  John. 

L.  &  S.     Dec.  1803.     5  days. 

^3i35- 

Worsley,  Benjamin,  D.D. 

(With  others.)  John  Dunmore 
and  Richard  Chiswell.  May 
1678,  'daily  until  all  be  sold.' 

Wren,  Sir  Christopher.     1632- 

1723- 
Cock  and  Langford.     Oct.  1748. 

2  evenings. 
Wright,  William. 

S.W.  &  H.     June  1899.     3  days. 

^8685. 


448 


ENGLISH   BOOK  COLLECTO 


Wynne,  Edward.     17 34- 1784. 
L.  &  S.     March  1786.     12  days. 
j£io66. 
Yates,  Edmund.     1831-1894. 
S.  W.  &  H.     Jan.  1895.     2  days. 
^968. 
York,  Duke  of.     1763-1827. 
Library.      S.      May    1827.      22 

days.     .£4703- 
Maps,  charts,  etc.    S.    July  1827. 
4  days.     ^1014. 


Young,  Alexander. 
S.  W.  &  H.    June  1890.    3  days. 
^2238. 
Young,  John. 

Library.      S.   W.    &  H.      April 

1875.     2  days.     ^807. 
Autograph  letters  and  historical 
documents.      2  parts.     S.  \V. 
&    H.    [Anon.].       April  -  May 
1869,    April    1875.      ,0  days. 


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